“Developing capacity to assess and understand MBI uptake barriers and thresholds”
Contact: Adrienne Farago, Jonathan Green (NT Department of Natural Resources Environment and the Arts)
Funds: $18,000
The aim of the project is to develop capacity to understand barriers and incentive thresholds related to market-based instruments (MBI) uptake by pastoralists and inform the design of emerging MBI programs.
The objectives are to:
- Increase pastoralists understanding of the concept of conservation covenants & associated MBIs and the role they can have in achieving biodiversity conservation & sustainable resource use outcomes
- identify barriers and incentive thresholds of acceptability in relation to the uptake of conservation covenants and associated MBIs
- increase capacity to design and delver a Northern Territory conservation covenant program & emerging pilot MBI programs in ways that increase uptake likelihood.
The NT Natural Resources Management (NRM) Board anticipates the following outcomes of the project:
- that pastoralists will be interested in and receptive to the concept of conservation covenants and other biodiversity focused MBIs are identified as potential MBI program participants
- that current MBI programs (including Natural Heritage Trust Regional Investments and the conservation covenants program) are able to be designed in ways increase their likelihood of uptake
- that MBI adoption barriers, applicability and MBI capacity building needs are identified which will inform the development
of future capacity building and other MBI programs.
“Indigenous caring for country and MBIs across northern Australia: Phase 1”
Contact: Joe Morrison
Funds: $19,000
The aims of the project are to begin to address a lack of appropriate information, understanding and applicable research on MBIs so that Indigenous land and sea managers can consider the use of them in Indigenous-owned estate across northern Australia.
The objectives are to:
- improve the understanding of MBIs and for NAILSMA staff to have a better understanding of them with assistance from the School of Environmental Research, Charles Darwin University
- identify and scope areas of NAILSMA’s activities that could be enhanced through the use of MBIs independently
- explore and assess the potential use of MBIs related to specific project management areas of NAILSMA
- communicate lessons from the project to relevant Indigenous NRM organisations.
“Growing the carrot: understanding and expanding MBIs in South Australia”
Contact: Sarah Lance (Murray–Darling NRM Board)
Funds: $18,500
The project aims to significantly build the capacity of regional NRM boards and associated non-government organisations to utilise MBIs for improved natural resources management outcomes.
This addresses a major skills and knowledge gap where regional staff have little, if any, practical experience in conducting MBIs or in analysing their existing regional investment programs and delivery methods for opportunities where MBIs would likely lead to improved NRM outcomes for the funds invested.
To achieve this aim this project has the following objectives:
-
to build understanding within NRM Board staff across four NRM regions of MBIs as tools for more effective NRM investment—the regions being South Australian Murray Darling Basin (SA MDB), South East (SE), Adelaide & Mt Lofty Ranges (AMLR) and Northern & Yorke (NY)—NGO staff will also be invited to broaden the outcomes to all large scale on-ground works projects
-
to share experiences of the few existing MBI systems which have been trialled in South Australia amongst the regional NRM boards
-
to tap into new and innovative MBI methodologies and projects happening interstate that are of relevance to South Australia
-
to identify the best opportunities for MBIs to deliver improved NRM outcomes amongst existing programs run through the NRM Boards
-
to utilise the knowledge gained and the expertise accessed to design actual MBI tools that can be implemented by the NRM Boards.
“Critical landholder and service provider constraints to biodiversity auction implementation”
Contact: Sarah Lance
Funds: $10,000
The project aims to use the experiences from two auction-based schemes that have been recently delivered in the Mount Lofty Ranges/South Australian Murray Darling Basin, BushBids and Catchment Care, to examine constraints to effective auction implementation and determine appropriate strategies to overcome these constraints.
-
Objective one: Examine landholder price-setting strategies – Price setting has been identified as a critical factor affecting landholder participation.
-
Objective two: Examine the availability and quality of advice on prices for easily quantified components of conservation actions (e.g. fencing, labour) – The availability of contractors and the quality and consistency of information provided by contractors and consultants.
-
Objective three: Examine the availability and consistency of advice on less easily quantified costs – less easily quantified costs include opportunity costs for forgone income, costs to cover risk for future management, taxation and social security implications etc.
-
Objective four: Develop recommendations for design of reverse auctions to overcome price-setting constraints
- Objective five: Communicate lessons on when price-setting constraints may limit effectiveness of reverse auctions to NRM stakeholders in South Australia and interstate.
“Earning an income from biodiversity: can credit trading and property plans pay?”
Contact: Alistair Kay
Funds: $20,000
The scope of this project is to test a range of MBI scenarios in a workshop environment, involving both biodiversity credit trading and models for property level accreditation to provide for market access and advantage. The main output of this project will be a review document outlining the methods used, key learnings, options and recommendations for the future development of related market based instruments in Tasmania. The main outcome of this project will be greater capacity among Tasmanian NRM Regional Bodies and other organisations to develop, design and implement successful MBIs in Tasmania to achieve voluntary biodiversity conservation on private land.
The project aims to build capacity in the design, development and implementation of Market Based Instruments (MBIs) among Tasmania’s 3 NRM Regions (NRM North, Cradle Coast NRM, and NRM South) and other organisations involved in voluntary biodiversity conservation on private land in Tasmania (e.g. Dept of Primary Industries and Water and the Tasmanian Land Conservancy). It aims to do so by exploring the potential application of specific types of MBIs to the Tasmanian situation.
Specifically, the project aims to explore in some detail the potential for the use of biodiversity credit trading mechanisms and accreditation of property level plans for the management and conservation of biodiversity to provide new incentives to landholders to undertake voluntary conservation on private land.
“Land stewardship case study: developing an investment pathway for environmental goods and services delivery in the Bass Coast”
Contact: Yasmin Kelsell
Funds: $18,000
The aims of the project are to:
- capture the lessons learnt from the Bass Coast Land Stewardship Trial and create an Investor Ready Package for use by people generating environmental goods and services for sale
- tell the story to potential investors of what Environmental Goods and Services are and how they can invest in them through a Landcare and Catchment Management Authority (CMA) model.
The objectives are to:
- document and showcase the approach used by Bass Coast Landcare in developing an investor ready group of Land Stewards who can provide Environmental Goods and Services for sale that align with CMA regional strategies
- develop a business prospectus to facilitate investment in Land Stewardship and Environmental Goods and Services delivery programs by individual, corporate and agency partners.
It is anticipated that this project will help the West Gippsland CMA build its capacity to provide environmental goods and services and to engage investors, so that programs result in more targeted outcomes that align with the regional catchment strategies.
“A comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of River Tender”
Contact: Natalie Ord
Funds: $20,000
The aim of the project is to compare two mature programs (the third round of River Tender and the implementation of Riparian Landholder Agreements over an equivalent time) which address riparian restoration needs in terms of:
- landholder attitudes and behaviour change
- site biophysical changes as a result of landholder commitments
- organisational investment in program implementation (resources spent).
The objective is to prove or disprove the hypothesis that “participation in an MBI such as River Tender results in greater commitment from landholders and is better value for money than the conventional engagement program of Landholder Agreements”. It is anticipated that the conclusions reached can be used by CMAs considering the use of an MBI as part of their toolkit of river-health programs.
“Developing a price-based market signal for increased dairy participation in NRM”
Contact: Sue-Anne Nicol
Funds: $20,000
The project seeks to build the capacity of Southern Rivers CMA and one of its key partners, Bega Cooperative, in the design and development of a price-based MBI to secure long-term voluntary participation of dairy suppliers in active NRM on the far south coast of NSW. The CMA believes the adoption of an MBI to improve river health (primarily via effluent management, better nutrient budgeting, fencing stock, providing other water sources, and upgrading dairy laneways and stock crossings) will increase the speed and efficiency with which the dairy sector is able to reach an agreed level of environmental performance. The project managers expect that more than 90% of dairy farmers will be involved. The Southern Rivers CMA believes it will be able to translate the implementation of this project to other industries, such as beef and oysters.
“Which MBI carrots to dangle for peri-urban NRM in Southern Queensland?
Contact: Geoff Adams (Condamine Alliance), Alana White (Burnett–Mary)
Funds: $18,182
This project aims to improve the capacity of two regional NRM bodies in south east Queensland to utilise MBIs and achieve desired NRM outcomes in peri-urban areas. Peri-urbanisation is a rapidly growing phenomenon in the various catchments in southern Queensland, due to fast-growing populations. Although market-based instruments play an increasing role in achieving NRM outcomes in southern Queensland, there has been comparatively little experience with application of MBIs in peri-urban areas. The greater diversity of land use and motivation of landholders in peri-urban areas are likely to require a greater range and flexibility of MBI methods compared to ‘traditional’ rural areas.
In this context, the project aims are to:
- examine the components of ‘traditional’ MBIs to determine their applicability to the diverse nature of the peri-urban communities.
- develop in partnership with experts, an MBI program that will encourage the engagement and uptake of NRM practices in the peri-urban regions of southern Queensland.
- work in partnership with other regional bodies to develop synergies from collective approaches to addressing NRM issues in peri-urban areas.
- train delivery partners/service providers across different regional groups with utilising MBIs in a peri urban context
- engage with peri urban residents on market based incentives
“A policy model for community-grounded biodiversity offset management within an NRM framework”
Contact: Allan Dale, Rowena Grace
Funds: $15,870
The aim of the project is to enhance the capacity of regional communities to utilise MBIs through a case study with Terrain in the far north Queensland region which will develop a policy model for regional biodiversity offset management that can be used to catalyse capacity improvement in other NRM regions.
The objectives are to develop:
- generic, and robust, model for policy development and implementation relevant to biodiversity offsets within NRM asset management
- a specific draft policy on biodiversity offset management for the Wet Tropics region of far north Queensland, including a set of key criteria and evaluation processes that provide a transparent framework for biodiversity offset management by Terrain
- an enhanced capacity across the region for applying biodiversity offsets to maintain and protect ecosystem services.
Terrain intends to position itself as a broker for offsets occurring in the Wet Tropics, and this project will help the group improve its capacity as an adviser and broker, particularly in the management of biodiversity offsets.