First Nature Repair Market project signals investor interest in nature restoration
Project underpinned by Niche’s biodiversity expertise
August 13, 2025
News & Insights
Silva Capital’s Cooplacurripa Station was today announced as Australia’s first registered Nature Repair Market (NRM) project. Behind the scenes, biodiversity specialists Niche Environment and Heritage provided the science, expertise and fieldwork needed to make it happen.
Niche Managing Director, Ian Rollins, said the team was pleased to have contributed to this major milestone for Australia’s emerging nature markets.
“This project is a signal that our environment is finally being recognised as a valuable asset in its own right, and it’s a blueprint for how science, regulation and the investment community can work together to deliver high-integrity nature positive outcomes at scale,” he said.
Niche is the first ecology and biodiversity consultancy to apply the new Nature Repair Market (NRM) methodology and conduct baseline assessments for an NRM project. This work involved Niche’s team of ecologists and spatial experts delivering baseline surveys across over 450 hectares of eucalyptus forest and subtropical rainforest at the Cooplacurripa Station property on Biripi/Birpai Country, west of Taree in NSW.
“A strong grounding in environmental science is critical for nature projects like Cooplacurripa and Niche was trusted by Silva Capital and their partner Covalent Land Australia to provide that on-ground expertise and environmental integrity,” Mr Rollins said.
The Cooplacurripa Station project will now restore critical habitats and boost biodiversity, generating biodiversity certificates that can be sold to voluntary buyers to support their nature positive ambitions.
Rollins said the project should send a clear message to policymakers: nature can and should be valued in Australia’s economy—using a consistent methodology nationally.
“It’s a significant statement for the market to see a fund like Silva Capital investing in nature conservation and we are excited to see how voluntary initiatives like this can operate efficiently alongside biodiversity compliance schemes to drive nature positive outcomes at scale,” he said.
Rollins recently called for urgent environmental law reform, stating that Australia needs a standardised national approach for valuing and regulating biodiversity.
“A clear national compliance framework is a critical pre-cursor to any successful voluntary biodiversity market like the Nature Repair Market, so the current uncertainty around the reform of Australia’s environmental laws must be resolved urgently,” Mr Rollins said.
In 2024, Niche was engaged by Covalent Land Australia to deliver starting state assessments for the Cooplacurripa Station project based on the recently released draft Replanting Native Forest and Woodland Ecosystems method.
From March 2025, when the final NRM method was released, Niche worked closely with Covalent Land Australia and the Clean Energy Regulator to ensure the original data collected was compliant and supported the development of key documents required for the submission of the project for registration.
Rollins said the project drew on the deep technical skills and experience of the Niche team.
“In such a new and untested market like the NRM, project proponents should look to experts that have honed their skills in similarly complex and scientifically-robust schemes to ensure ecological best practice,” he said.
“We brought our extensive ecological field knowledge, biodiversity assessment and spatial analysis experience to the Cooplacurripa project, gained from over 15 years of working on complex environmental projects, as well as the flexibility and regulatory knowledge to work with an evolving methodology.”
Contact
Carly Youd
Head of Brand, Marketing and Communications
Niche Environment and Heritage
Phone: 0409 675 019
Email: cyoud@niche-eh.com
