Tim Flannery's 2012 Quarterly Essay, ‘After the Future’, shifted Australia's contemporary extinction crisis into the public arena. In that essay, he advocated for private (i.e. nongovernment, not-for-profit) conservation organisations to assume key roles in future efforts to preserve and recover biodiversity. This editorial expands on Flannery's treatise by describing the contribution private conservation is currently making to: (i) increase the representativeness and adequacy of Australia's national reserve system and (ii) pioneer landscape-scale approaches to tackle threatening processes and undertake remedial action at large spatial scales. There is also an urgent need for increased collaboration and exchange between ecologists in academia and the private conservation sector to maximise the biodiversity gains possible through private conservation initiatives. Many Australians are concerned about the extinction crisis currently unfolding. Moreover, there is a growing realisation that governments are unable or unwilling to undertake all the necessary actions to halt and ultimately reverse biodiversity losses. Public parks and reserves are, and always will be, the backbone of Australia's national reserve system, and thus, the cornerstone of the nation's biodiversity conservation strategy. However, public reserves alone will not be enough to reverse the biodiversity crisis for two compelling reasons. First, public reserves do not adequately represent all of Australia's habitats and land systems, being skewed towards less productive ecosystems unsuitable for agriculture, and generally occur on poor soils, steep slopes and in arid areas (Taylor et al. 2011). Second, relying solely on a static reserve system will not adequately address a host of threatening processes operating at larger spatial scales and thereby necessitating a landscape approach (Bennett et al. 2009). Alternative models for biodiversity conservation are required to avert the extinction crisis. Private conservation organisations, such as Bush Heritage Australia, Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Tasmanian Land Conservancy and Nature Foundation South Australia, are funded primarily by donations from individuals, philanthropic foundations and trusts. While these organisations are relatively young (most formed since 1990), they are emerging as key players in efforts to preserve and recover biodiversity. Private conservation organisations have several strategic strengths. They access private and philanthropic funds to increase the overall pool of financial resources available for purchase of conservation reserves, and they are capable of responding swiftly to land purchase opportunities. They can gain access to (and negotiate with) landholders who are often unwilling to deal with government agencies, and they can target poorly protected but productive and – sometimes – less visually aesthetic ecosystems that may not be suitable as public reserves. These advantages mean that private conservation organisations are playing a vital role in increasing both the size – private conservation organisations now manage over 6 million hectares or nearly 6% of the national reserve system (source: CAPAD 2010) – and the representativeness of the national reserve system. For example, 51% of Bush Heritage's reserves (comprising nearly 1 million ha) occur within IBRA subregions that have less than 15% protection in designated conservation reserves. Bush Heritage's Edgbaston Reserve in the Queensland Desert Uplands is a good example. The most ecologically diverse cluster of Great Artesian Basin springs occur on this property, with high levels of endemism and threatened species. Although the previous owners were unable to reach agreement with the government, they were open to negotiation with Bush Heritage, who were able to secure the title and now manage the property for conservation. This has involved an innovative project to preserve (and recover) the entire global population of the endangered Red-finned Blue-eye (Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis), Australia's most threatened freshwater fish (Kerezsy & Fensham 2013). Private conservation organisations have strong support from the community (although all of them have fewer supporters and smaller annual operating budgets than elite professional football clubs) because they are taking tangible, practical steps to redress causes of biodiversity impoverishment. While private reserves remain a core activity, they are not immune to the dilemma faced by the public reserve estate (and largely overlooked by Flannery): reserves and sanctuaries help increase representativeness and adequacy of the national reserve system, but other approaches are needed to address landscape-scale processes. Here, private conservation organisations are also filling the role previously occupied by government by seeking to exert influence and achieve conservation outcomes beyond the boundaries of their reserves. With 31% of Australia's landmass now recognised as Indigenous-owned land, Indigenous people, governments and the conservation sector are awakening to the opportunity that exists for conservation on the Indigenous estate. Over the last 5 years, Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs) have been the fastest growing sector of the national reserve system, now accounting for around 23% of the total protected area (source: CAPAD 2010). Private conservation organisations are complementing Government investment in IPAs through building partnerships with Indigenous people, with a focus on sharing knowledge and increasing local capacity to manage country for conservation. In May 2011, Bush Heritage and Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation signed a 10-year agreement, the first of its kind between a private conservation organisation and an Indigenous representative body, to formalise the relationship that had evolved during the development of the Wunambal Gaambera Healthy Country Plan (Moorcroft et al. 2012). Wunambal Gaambera is now implementing the Plan with ongoing financial and logistical support from Bush Heritage. Over the past 2 years, conservation actions and outcomes have included: re-instating traditional burning practices (‘right-way fire’) over almost one million hectares of land; weed and feral animal control; documenting endemic and vulnerable plants and animals; cultural heritage management; and developing operational manuals and procedures. Bush Heritage is now implementing this approach with other Indigenous groups across northern Australia. Governments have traditionally led landscape-scale conservation initiatives: for example, Victoria's Bush Tender program used market-based instruments to leverage conservation gains on private land, and Bounceback (SA), Western Shield (WA) and Southern Ark (Victoria) have all reduced feral animal populations across large areas. Private conservation organisations are now pioneering innovative landscape-scale approaches that complement, and often add value to, government conservation projects. The key to success is their ability to draw together disparate groups to work towards a common conservation goal. The Australian Wildlife Conservancy's EcoFire project in the Kimberley involves fire planning and management across 14 properties over 4.5 million hectares (Legge et al. 2011). By increasing the amount of cool, early dry season fire through prescribed burning, the project has successfully reduced the frequency and extent of intense late season fires. This has improved habitat quality for a number of threatened species, including the Gouldian Finch (Erythrura gouldiae), which are showing signs of recovery. Private conservation organisations are driving several landscape-scale restoration projects, such as Gondwana Link in south-west Western Australia, which was initiated by Greening Australia, Bush Heritage Australia and The Wilderness Society – and the Tasmanian Midlands Landscape Project, a collaboration between the Tasmanian Land Conservancy, Bush Heritage Australia and the Tasmanian Government. While the purpose of these projects is similar – to protect the best remnants and restore the connectivity and condition of native vegetation across the landscape – the operational approaches differ markedly, demonstrating the flexibility of private conservation organisations to adapt to the prevailing social, ecological and economic context in which they work. In the Stirling Range to Fitzgerald River section of Gondwana Link, the focus hitherto has been on land purchase but with most remnant blocks now secured, effort has shifted to replanting vegetation to ‘reconstruct’ and reintegrate landscapes, supporting landholders to actively manage their properties for conservation, and leading cross-tenure projects to address landscape-scale issues such as fire management and feral predators. By contrast, in Tasmania, where opportunities to purchase high conservation value properties are rare, the Midlands Project partners have established the Midlands Conservation Fund: Australia's first stewardship programme to be developed and delivered by private conservation organisations (Cowell et al. 2013). This programme provides stewardship payments to landholders who enter into rolling 10-year management agreements to achieve long-term conservation outcomes. Ecology and ecologists are fundamental to these projects and initiatives. Private conservation organisations employ scientists to design and implement projects, ensuring they are underpinned by sound scientific principles and informed by ecological knowledge. There are numerous examples of research collaborations between academia and private conservation organisations but increased interaction and connection is urgently needed, given the rate of species declines and ecosystem degradation. The research community holds much of the knowledge for species and ecosystem recovery, but there is a need for faster devolution of this knowledge to on-ground practitioners. The Australian Centre for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (www.aceas.org.au) and Environmental Evidence Australia's Systematic Reviews of Evidence (www.environmentalevidence.com.au) are two recent initiatives providing pathways for knowledge exchange. Staff exchanges, student scholarships and internships, joint research funding applications, and collaborative analysis are also critical for increasing knowledge-sharing. Nature reserves, landscape restoration, species-specific management, cross-tenure partnerships and raising public awareness are all planks of the ark required to save biodiversity. Private conservation organisations are already contributing significantly to each of these aspects, and with an ever-increasing need, their role will continue to be central to the fate of biodiversity in Australia. Jim Radford is Science & Research Manager with Bush Heritage Australia (PO Box 329 Flinders Lane, Melbourne; Vic 8009, Australia; Tel: +61 3 8610 9144; Email: [email protected]).