When Philip Marrii Winzer first saw the lot, which is east of Glen Innes, he knew he had to protect it.

"When I first went out there to look at it I was immediately struck by how beautiful and green it is," he said.

"The thought of this being a lovely place that we could have where people can come and relax, where we can practice cultural revitalisation and teaching skills and caring for country and traditional burning and those sorts of things.

"But also I immediately noticed a number of potentially culturally-significant trees on the property.

"Things like scar trees and traditional lookout trees that are increasingly rare across the region.

"I decided then and there that regardless of whether there was anything I could do with the place it was worth trying to buy it just for those things alone."

READ MORE:

He was worried another owner might log the trees for firewood out of ignorance before they could be assessed .

But at $49,000 for the lot, he could only cover half the bill through savings.

So he turned to crowdfunding. Philip planned to spend 90 days fundraising.

But just hours after signing up to GoFund Me, with friends and family throwing in thousands of dollars, he had the money.

Some of the biggest donors were either ecologically-minded, keen on idea of saving the area as a reserve, or a broader range of people who believe Aboriginal land should be in Aboriginal hands and were happy to put their money where their mouth is, he said.

The fundraising was so successful Mr Marrii is considering bidding on a neighbouring plot triple the size.

"It's something I've dreamed of doing for a really long time," he said.

"I was really overwhelmed about the amount of money that came into the GoFund Me in such a short amount of time. It gave me a lot of good feelings about where people are at and people's generosity."

He said he feels a strong connection to the country in the area.

Support the local news that keeps you informed - subscribe today.

"Any time you know that that is back in Aboriginal people's hands that have some say over what happens on that country, that's a really indescribable feeling."

Globally, Indigenous land holds 80 per cent of biodiversity, but Indigenous people own or manage less than a quarter of the world's land. In Ngarabul country, Indigenous people manage less than 1 per cent of their land.

The land will change hands in a little over 50 days. It will be managed either through some sort of trust - Mr Marrii lives in Brisbane and can't do the job day-to-day - or possibly by the Local Aboriginal Land Council.

He's hoping to turn it into a gathering place to teach young Aboriginal kids cultural skills and traditional language.

Want more local news? Subscribe to the Leader to read it here first