What is the Nature Repair Market and how will it help protect our biodiversity?

Companies and landholders that invest in protecting and restoring nature could soon earn tradeable certificates under the world-first Nature Repair Market scheme – the product of the Australian Government’s broader push towards nature positivity.

As our country is home to some of the world’s most unique ecosystems and species, it is likely the scheme will be a welcome feature of Australia’s sustainability agenda – complementing other existing schemes like the carbon market and NSW’s biodiversity credits market.

With the first Nature Repair Market methodology for the scheme announced last week, interest is high. But what exactly is the scheme all about, and how might it help drive much-needed voluntary private sector investment in this space?

Here, we take a quick look at what has been announced so far, and what the opportunities are for landholders and companies with nature positive ambitions.

What is the Nature Repair Market?

The speed and scale of environmental decline in Australia is too much for government and not-for-profits to tackle alone, and heads are increasingly turning to the private sector to help.

To spur private investment, the Commonwealth is building a world-first Nature Repair Market Scheme, which will incentivise qualifying projects that manage, protect, or restore nature.

This could include activities like re-establishing vegetation, or controlling pests and feral species that might otherwise harm natural ecosystems.

In exchange for this work, businesses and landholders would earn a ‘biodiversity certificate’ which outlines the objectives and measured gains from a project. This could then be sold to generate an income for the project proponent.

It functions a bit like Australia’s well-established carbon market, which provides a framework for qualifying projects to earn and sell carbon credits in exchange for reducing or avoiding emissions.

What are the potential benefits?

Buyers of biodiversity certificates will typically be larger companies with a focus on demonstrating their commitment to nature and biodiversity. If they have already set voluntary targets or goals towards nature positive, the Nature Repair Market will likely be a key enabler of these targets.

These certificates may also be able to support their efforts towards global reporting frameworks like Taskforce for Nature-Related Financial Disclosure (TNFD) or potentially future mandated nature reporting in Australia. Investing in nature repair efforts will also signal to customers and investors that companies are serious about sustainability.

For the landholders behind the projects, this market can provide an alternative revenue stream. This is particularly attractive for farmers and the agriculture sector where diversified income can provide much-needed stability.

Getting more land into conservation helps nature thrive long term and also has benefits for ensuring our landscapes are more resilient for a warmer climate and more extreme weather.

Where is the Nature Repair Market currently at?

Australia’s nature repair market is already legislated under the Nature Repair Act. In March, the first methodology was announced so projects can begin the process of registering.

The Replanting native forest and woodland ecosystems method is aimed at encouraging biodiverse carbon plantings. It promotes carbon projects that seek to reinstate natural ecosystems that foster biodiversity values rather than carbon at lowest cost. This allows projects to ‘stack’ carbon and biodiversity on the same site, increasing financial and environmental gains.

Projects will need to meet the methodology’s strict criteria to register, take the required actions on their property and ultimately earn certificates for their efforts.

This first method is a significant milestone for this emerging world-first market, and with the anticipated strong demand for participation, it is expected that more methods will be developed and launched soon.

How can Niche help?

At Niche, our vast experience in measuring biodiversity and establishing stewardship sites has set us up to be actively involved in the Nature Repair Market. Niche has provided expertise to government during the scheme’s development and worked with industry leaders to deploy nature repair methods in preparation for scheme commencement.

We are already working with clients to explore potential nature positive strategies and nature repair opportunities ahead of the launch of the market and with landholders to understand how they could participate.

Get in touch with us today to see how we can support you.

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