Biodiversity certificates to increase native habitat and support Australian landholders: The Australian Labor Government has today announced the creation of a biodiversity certificates scheme. The scheme recognises landholders who restore or manage local habitat and grants them biodiversity certificates which can then be sold to other parties.
This will operate in a similar way to our current carbon crediting legislation. The scheme will make it easier for businesses, organisations and individuals to invest in landscape restoration and management. As companies look to invest in carbon offsetting projects like tree planting, we need to make sure there is a path for farmers and the environment to benefit. We need to protect waterways, provide habitat for native species, reduce erosion, protect topsoil, improve drought resilience and create shelter for livestock.
A biodiversity market will also promote management of existing, remnant vegetation that provides habitat for native species. As the recent State of the Environment report found, Australia’s environment is poor and deteriorating and government cannot foot the bill alone. The markets for biodiversity and carbon credits will operate in parallel, both regulated by the Clean Energy Regulator. Over coming months the government will be consulting widely on the detailed rules for scheme – for example the rules on how biodiversity benefits should be measured and verified.
Gardening at Last 