Ecology is now a numbers game in NSW. All threatened species and plant community types, including threatened ecological communities, have a dollar value under the new Biodiversity Offsets Scheme or BOS for short.
Under the NSW offset scheme, private and public landholders are able to place their properties under what’s called Biodiversity Stewardship Agreements in perpetuity and receive ongoing payments to manage the conservation values of their property. There is also a direct financial sweetener if a landholder can sell more than 80% of their credits. Market-driven developers and others who are unable to avoid impacting native vegetation or threatened species can purchase species and ecosystem credits from the open market. Alternatively, they can pay a premium to the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) who will find conservation offsets on their behalf.
Ecosure is currently working with four private and one public landholder in NSW to establish Stewardship Agreement Sites. Our skilled team of highly trained environmental consultants are some of the best in their field at finding threatened species and assessing plant communities which helps our clients maximise their credits. Ecosure is also working directly with the BCT to help establish Voluntary Conservation Agreements.
For more information contact Nigel Cotsell, Manager, Coffs Harbour and Senior Ecologist, Ecosure, on email: ncotsell@ecosure.com.au