Media release – Tasmanian Land Conservancy (TLC), 2 September 2022

TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR NATURE, TALK TO YOUR FAMILY

As cost-of-living pressures bite, you might be cutting back on your donations to your favourite charities. But did you know there’s a way you can support the causes you care about without sacrificing the things you need now?

As part of ‘Include a Charity’ week, 5-11 September, the Tasmanian Land Conservancy (TLC) is asking Tasmanians to consider nature conservation when writing their will. TLC’s mission is to look after nature on private land, whether that’s the wildlife that lives on someone’s property, or the extensive habitat on the organisation’s own nature reserves.

Leaving a bequest in your will to a not-for-profit like the TLC is a profound way to create a legacy that will live on after you.

‘We understand that people connect to nature in so many ways. Leaving a gift in your will is something simple and powerful you can do to make sure the wild places you love today, are protected for future generations,’ says James Hattam, TLC’s CEO.

During the global ‘Include a Charity’ week, Australians are encouraged to think about setting up a charitable gift in their will. For many people, leaving a gift in their will to charity is the opportunity to make a donation far greater than one they may be able to make during their lifetime.

Include a Charity week is also a great time to talk to family and loved ones about your will. Letting your family know now about any causes included in your will can save a great deal of confusion and distress in the future.

‘Talking to your family about why you want to leave a bequest to the TLC, or any other organisation, allows you to answer their questions now, while you’re still around to explain your decisions. It’s a kindness to your loved ones, but also a chance for them to get to know the charities that you value and support,’ says Annabelle Sweetman, TLC’s Planned Giving Coordinator.

Thanks to the generosity of bequesters, and with the support of their families, the TLC was able to establish the Prosser River Reserve in 2020. This 1,500 hectare reserve protects eleven threatened plant and animal communities and beautiful stands of old-growth forest near Orford, on Tasmania’s east coast.

Freya McGregor, whose grandfather made the bequest that protected the reserve, visited it in 2022 and truly felt the power of his legacy. ‘It was magic,’ she said. ‘The gigantically tall white gums, the lovely river meandering quietly below, and all the birds everywhere we went. Pa would have loved it.’

‘When you leave a bequest to the TLC,’ Annabelle Sweetman explains, ‘you’re not just making a gift to the future of Tasmania’s nature. You’re also joining a community of like-minded supporters. And we love it when people bring their families along to our most beautiful reserves, to share with their loved ones the causes they care about.’