We’re Your Local Authority on Biodiversity Credits
NSW legislation has created a new market-based scheme for the creation and sale of biodiversity credits. The Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act) and accompanying regulations introduce the Biodiversity Offsets Scheme (BOS), which is designed to create a system for the creation and sale of biodiversity credits by landowners to those impacting the environment (developers).
A developer, which includes land developers, miners, government agencies etc. under their development approvals, retire biodiversity credits, to offset the environmental impact of the approved development.
Biodiversity credits, in the form of ecosystem credits and species credits, are created through establishing a stewardship site. The following steps outline the simplified process a landowner would need to go through in order to establish a stewardship site.
- Identify the portion of your land you wish to place the stewardship site on.
- Determine whether you are eligible. This can be done with the help of an accredited assessor.
- Hire an accredited assessor to undertake the necessary fieldwork, collecting required ecological data in order to draft a report and calculate credits. This report is known as the Biodiversity stewardship site Assessment Report (BSSAR).
- Enter into a Biodiversity Stewardship Agreement (BSA) with the Biodiversity Conservation Trust (Trust).
- Sell your credits.
- Receive annual payments and manage the Biodiversity stewardship site.
How We Can Help
Wedgetail Offsets Scheme Brokers can help landowners understand the process and provide the information needed to make an informed decision in creating and managing a stewardship site and also help with sell the biodiversity credits from them.
Establishing a stewardship site and selling the biodiversity credits has the potential to be very beneficial for landowners. However, having an in-depth understanding of the process is vital.