The NSW government will enter the nascent market for biodiversity credits as it aims to boost the number of conservation and regeneration projects across the state and to make it easier for land users to offset their environmental impact.
NSW has a biodiversity offsets scheme in place which forces developers or land users building on threatened ecosystems or species to conserve habitat elsewhere in the state through the buying and selling of “biodiversity credits”. Under the new plan, the government will create a Biodiversity Credits Supply Fund which it will furnish with credits bought from biodiversity stewardship partners as well as conservation and regeneration projects across the state.
The initiative is expected to drive more activity in the market for biodiversity credits across the country, which are similar to carbon credits but reflect improvements in biodiversity and habitat quality rather than carbon abatement or sequestration.