Over the years that we have been working with landholders on carbon projects, it has been obvious to all of us who are involved that carbon sequestration is not the only positive outcome that is being achieved.
So many of you have told us about the return of native wildlife to properties that are, in particular, running HIR projects. If native mammals, reptiles and birds are returning, native plants are invariably part of the same story.
This is because one of the other benefits of regenerating woody vegetation in HIR projects is that habitat is also often being regenerated. This means ecosystems are being repaired.
Therefore, we began to look at ways we could run projects that had increases in this biodiversity as the outcome, rather than just increases in carbon sequestration.
Even better – what if we could run projects that could be scientifically proven to be doing both? What would such a scheme look like?
Being able to scientifically measure this ‘uplift’ in biodiversity would be one of the main features of such a scheme, if we were able to develop it.
So, just as we had done with water quality for the Great Barrier Reef, we set about trying to come up with an approach that would encourage improvements in nature.
We would need to be able to clearly measure and prove (verify) these improvements using a unit that would generate a credit that could be traded on an environmental market – a very similar mechanism to that for carbon credits (ACCUs).
We have, in fact, been working on this for the better part of the last decade.
To do so, we worked very closely with an organisation called Accounting for Nature. They developed the Accounting for Nature® Framework, which is a scientifically rigorous methodology for measuring environmental condition.
They work with farmers, indigenous land managers, private conservation organisations, businesses, impact investors, governments and regional natural resource management organisations who want to understand whether actions they have been taking are improving or degrading natural capital (natural resources) such as agricultural soils, native vegetation and fauna.
Over time and after an enormous amount of testing, our NaturePlus® scheme was developed.
NaturePlus® is designed to improve environmental condition and maintain improved conditions long-term by creating a mechanism that verifies, rewards and protects gains.
It is designed to work with methods that span native vegetation, fauna, soil, fresh water and marine environments.
The approach employs adaptive management, which is a flexible, ‘learning by doing’ approach where project teams plan actions, monitor results, and adjust their strategies based on what actually works in the field. With NaturePlus® projects, measurement of environmental condition informs the decisions land managers make in order to respond to changing ecosystem needs.
For NaturePlus® Credits to be awarded, projects must have delivered restoration in environmental condition, and it has to have been third-party audited and certified.
Since development was completed in 2023, we have completed a pilot project.
Today the first NaturePlus® project is running, dedicated to returning locally extinct plants and animals to a long degraded landscape.
The voluntary market for biodiversity credits is itself still in its infancy. Unlike carbon markets, which have matured over many years, we expect it will take time for demand and investment to develop to a scale that creates consistent opportunities for landholders.
Our goal is to work with stakeholders to create practical ways for landholders to be rewarded not only for storing carbon, but also for restoring the native plants, animals and ecosystems that make Australia’s landscapes unique.
