| Thursday, 20 November 2008 - The MBI Incentive - November |
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November 2008 |
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Welcome to the latest edition of The MBI Incentive where topics associated with market-based instruments (MBIs) such as regional NRM conservation tenders, are discussed and case studies and project stories are posted.
If you experience any technical difficulties with this newsletter, please email Carl Glen.
Please click here to view for past editions of The MBI Incentive.
Stories |
National
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Twenty video interviews conducted during Forum now available |
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Twenty video interviews were conducted during the highly successful National MBI Forum in Brisbane in late September.
The interviewees include people from all over Australia, working in all areas of natural resource management (NRM), from economists and scientists, to regional group project managers. These short video interviews provide an insight into a range of people's MBI experiences. |
Each of the interviewees share their experience with MBIs and provide some useful ideas on how to use MBIs effectively. The interviews are also a great way to find a useful contact person or get an introduction to MBIs and what they are used for in NRM. |
The 20 interviewees are: Nerilee Boshammer, Kathleen Broderick, Anthea Coggan, Mel Feldmuller, Mike Gooey, Greg Hales, Darryl Harvey, Donna Hazell, Claire Heath, Brett Janissen, Nicola Landsdell, Honorlea Massarella, Margie Milgate, Patrick O’Connor, Hugh Possingham, Rohan Sadler, Jennifer Stace, Vikki Uhlmann, Jill Windle, and Charlie Zammit.
Visit the Designer Carrots website to view the interviews. |
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Presentations from the National MBI Forum are now available |
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Many of the PowerPoint presentations provided during the highly successful National MBI Forum in Brisbane in late September are now available as downloadable PDFs on the Designer Carrots website. The presentations are on MBI topics from all over Australia in all areas of natural resource management (NRM).
If you attended the forum, these presentations will provide you with a useful recap of those sessions you attended or provide information on the sessions you missed.
If you did not attend the forum the program included presentation on:
- MBIs in the policy spectrum: keynote thoughts from around the country
- The five most important things learned from the Market Based Instruments Pilot Program (MBIPP) projects: A platform for several Pilot Program projects
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- What’s happening in my neck of the woods: a platform for regional NRM groups, NGOs and other implementers
- Best-practice metrics: what are they and why do you need them?
- Getting the right people involved in MBIs: communication and participation
- Sharing the lessons: lessons from seed money projects funded by the MBI Capacity Building Program
- Issues, constraints and opportunities for MBIs in peri-urban Australia
- The cutting edge, what are the latest thinking, research and policy ideas?
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- Monitoring and evaluation for MBIs
- Does Australia have the capacity to conduct successful MBIs? Lessons and issues from the MBI Capacity Building Program.
Although not all of the presentations are currently availble, we hope to be able to add additional presentations in the near future. |
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Designer Carrots program update |
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The national Market Based Instruments (MBI) Capacity Building Program (Designer Carrots) has ended. Designer Carrots products are still available on the Designer Carrots website and they include the following.
Website A third stage of the Designer Carrots website is now developed. This upgrade makes finding assistance on MBIs easier and helps people to set up their profiles on the site's little orange book (the yellow pages of MBIs).
Stage two brought new online tools to the website, including online versions of the MBI decision support tool, metric tool and training modules.
This website provides an ongoing portal for MBI information. It contains all the Designer Carrots fact sheets, case studies and general information on MBIs.
The website will be hosted for at least three years, so it will remain an active site of MBI knowledge and interactive sharing long after the Designer Carrots program ends.
Case studies and fact sheets Eight fact sheets and three case studies are available from the Designer Carrots website. They have been tailored to various levels of MBI awareness.
Designer Carrots Seed Money There are several new case studies on the website in the Designer Carrots Seed Money section on these projects which were designed to provide the resources to broker knowledge and build the capacity of regional natural resource management (NRM) bodies to implement and design MBIs. There were 10 successful applicants. |
Decision support tool and metric framework These tools help to create a knowledge platform for the consistent national application of MBIs. The decision support tool will provide guidance to assist in determining the feasibility of applying different MBIs. The metric essentials online tool is a framework which communicates current knowledge and recent experience in metric design and implementation; it is complemented by a literature survey that gives readers much more in-depth insights into the design of metrics, as well as sources of further reading.
Little Orange Book This practitioners’ network has been developed as a community of MBI practice through face-to-face contact (workshops) and virtual networking, and uses the website to further facilitate interaction. Network members now have access to the Designer Carrots website and Little Orange Book, creating an ongoing resource. It’s easy to become a member: click on the registration link, and the system administrator will sign you up. Membership gives you access to more resources than the open site allows. |
Training package and regional workshops The eighteen two-day regional workshops have been completed. Held nationwide they have helped participants gain a better understanding of the role of MBIs among the NRM policy options, the range of MBIs, and their appropriate application to solve NRM problems. These workshops for regional NRM groups and for government agencies provided training, practical information, and a forum for discussion on the development, administration, communication, monitoring and evaluation of key MBI approaches.
National MBI Forum Following on from the regional workshops, the Designer Carrots program hosted a very successful National MBI Forum on 30 September and 1 October in Brisbane. Over 145 people attended the Forum and disucussed a way forward for MBIs in NRM in Australia.
Some of the presentations from the forum are now available on the Designer Carrots website.
Additionally, 20 video interviews of MBI practioners were done at the forum and these videos are now available on the Designer Carrots website.
Please email Carl Glen or the Coordinator Claire Heath or phone on (07) 3239 3875 if you have any questions about the MBI Capacity Building Program. |
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Subscribing: If this email has been forwarded to you and you now wish to subscribe yourself, you can do so directly by email to The MBI Incentives newsletter or via the Designer Carrots website.
The MBI Incentive is a newsletter published by Catchment Programs, the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water, for Designer Carrots, the national MBI Capacity Building Program. For more information about the Designer Carrots program, go to the website at www.marketbasedinstruments.gov.au
Thank you for your contributions and feedback. If you have any comments or suggestions for The MBI Incentive newsletter please contact:
Editor and Communication officer: Carl Glen
Program Coordinator: Claire Heath
Unsubscribe from this newsletter: This newsletter has been sent in the understanding that you have consented to its delivery. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter in the future, you can unsubscribe by either replying to this email with "unsubscribe" in the subject line or directly using this link, Designer carrots newsletter. |
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| | Wednesday, 10 September 2008 - The MBI Incentive - September |
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September 2008 |
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Welcome to the latest edition of The MBI Incentive where topics associated with market-based instruments (MBIs) such as regional NRM conservation tenders, are discussed and case studies and project stories are posted.
If you experience any technical difficulties with this newsletter, please email Carl Glen.
Please click here to view for past editions of The MBI Incentive.
Stories |
National
New South Wales
Victoria
South Australia
Queensland
Tasmania
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Designer Carrots program update |
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The national Market Based Instruments (MBI) Capacity Building Program (Designer Carrots) is extended until the end of September 2008. Designer Carrots products are now available and they include the following.
Website A third stage of the Designer Carrots website is now being developed. This upgrade will make finding assistance on MBIs easier and help people to set up their profiles on the site's little orange book (the yellow pages of MBIs).
Stage two is complete, bringing new online tools to the website, including online versions of the MBI decision support tool, metric tool and training modules.
This website provides an ongoing portal for MBI information. It contains all the Designer Carrots fact sheets, case studies and general information on MBIs.
The website will be hosted for at least three years, so it will remain an active site of MBI knowledge and interactive sharing long after the Designer Carrots program ends.
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Case studies and fact sheets Eight fact sheets and three case studies are available from the Designer Carrots website. They have been tailored to various levels of MBI awareness.
Designer Carrots Seed Money There are several new case studies on the website in the Designer Carrots Seed Money section on these projects which were designed to provide the resources to broker knowledge and build the capacity of regional natural resource management (NRM) bodies to implement and design MBIs. There were 10 successful applicants.
Decision support tool and metric framework These tools help to create a knowledge platform for the consistent national application of MBIs. The decision support tool will provide guidance to assist in determining the feasibility of applying different MBIs. The metric essentials online tool is a framework which aims to communicate current knowledge and recent experience in metric design and implementation; it is complemented by a literature survey that gives readers much more in-depth insights into the design of metrics, as well as sources of further reading. |
Little Orange Book This practitioners’ network has been developed as a community of MBI practice through face-to-face contact (workshops) and virtual networking, and uses the website to further facilitate interaction. Network members now have access to the Designer Carrots website and Little Orange Book, creating an ongoing resource. It’s easy to become a member: click on the registration link, and the system administrator will sign you up. Membership gives you access to more resources than the open site allows.
Training package and regional workshops The eighteen two-day regional workshops have been completed. Held nationwide they have helped participants gain a better understanding of the role of MBIs among the NRM policy options, the range of MBIs, and their appropriate application to solve NRM problems. These workshops for regional NRM groups and for government agencies provided training, practical information, and a forum for discussion on the development, administration, communication, monitoring and evaluation of key MBI approaches.
National MBI Forum Following the regional workshops, the Designer Carrots program is hosting a National MBI Forum on 30 September and 1 October in Brisbane. Click here to learn more and register.
Please email Carl Glen or the Coordinator Claire Heath or phone on (07) 3239 3875 if you have any questions about the MBI Capacity Building Program.

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Who’s coming to the National MBI Forum |
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The National MBI Forum is shaping up to be an exciting space to debate the future of market-based instruments for achieving NRM goals.
Confirmed speakers include Colin Creighton, the former director of the CSIRO flagship program Water for a Healthy Country; Professor Mike Young, Professor of Water Economics and Management at the University of Adelaide; Mike Gooey, the executive director of Trust for Nature (Victoria); Anthea Coggan, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems (on the use of market-based instruments for ecosystem services); and Jennifer Stace of the National Action, Emission Reduction Section, Climate Change, NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, who was involved in setting up that state’s biobanking program.
Colin Creighton says he has been around agriculture and natural resources management "long enough to know it's time to hand over to the next generation of practitioners." He now divides his time between:
- farming – practicing what he has preached
- sailing – where the weather requires good adaptive management skills
- volunteering – under the philosophy that while we always learn, its time to return rather than earn; and
- the occasional challenging science questions – like seasonal forecasting in a changing climate.
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Professor Mike Young is a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists.
He has played a key role in the development of water policy in Australia and has been identified by the Canberra Times as one of the 10 most influential people in water policy reform. He has been awarded the Land and Water Australia Eureka Award for Water Research and a Centenary Medal for his contribution to environmental economics.
Recently, the Adelaide Sunday Mail identified Mike as one of the 50 most influential people in South Australia, and the person most likely to change the place we live in.
Mike Gooey has been Executive Director of Trust for Nature since October 2005.
Mike’s experience includes: corporate strategy in the Victorian Department of Primary Industries; managing the Victorian Landcare program; and leading the NSW Salt Action program.
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Mike was Executive Officer to the NSW Snowy Genoa Catchment Management Committee, which encouraged the NSW Government to pursue the Snowy River Inquiry which influenced the current national environmental flows policy.
Mike holds Bachelor and Masters degrees in agricultural science and rural development. In 2000, Mike was awarded a Churchill fellowship to study the links between rural community development and environmental management.
For information about other keynote speakers visit the biographies page on the Designer Carrots website.

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Successful MBI capacity building workshops in Sydney |
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People with an interest in learning about market-based instruments (MBIs) gathered in Sydney in the third week in August to do training on MBIs, including using online tools, such as a decision support tool and metric tool.
The two training workshops were part of the 18 workshops to help regional NRM groups and government staff nationally to determine if MBIs are an appropriate tool to use for designing on-ground project delivery, and how they might apply them in their own situations.
The attendees were regional groups and government officers wanting to get involved in MBIs. |
The interest in MBis in NSW was reflected by the good attendances at both the two-day workshops conducted in Sydney; there was also good attendance at a workshop held in Wagga Wagga.
The training was an introduction to MBIs as policy tools that encourage behavioural change through market signals rather than through explicit directives or through unsubtle mechanisms such as grants. The workshops covered a range of MBIs, including cap-and-trade mechanisms, offsets and conservation tenders. |
Online forums have been set-up on the Designer Carrots website* for all the trainees who attended the workshops, so they can continue to stay in touch and share their MBI learnings. Some of the attendees have already added contributions to the forums and it is hoped that this will continue as people use what they have learned at the training workshops and apply it at work.
Online versions of the training modules and the other MBI capacity building products are also available on the Designer Carrots website*.
* you will need to be logged in as a member to access these areas. Links for the training and forums are located in the navigation list on the left side of the page.

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Agriculture and forestry consultation on carbon trading scheme |
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Regional forums to discuss agriculture and forestry’s place in Australia’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme are being conducted nationally by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
The forums focused on the aspects of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Green Paper, released on 16 July, that relate to agriculture and forestry. |
The information gathered by the forums will feed into the Department of Climate Change’s consultation process which closed on 10 September.
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More information about the submission process is available on the Department of Climate Change website.
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Encouraging participation in MBIs and incentive programs |
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According to a recent Land and Water Australia study, trust, business orientation, information-seeking behaviour and connectedness are among the best predictors of participation in a market-based instrument (MBI) or incentive program.
Designing or delivering MBIs and incentives in the following ways were found to be helpful:
- use Landcare, local catchment management authorities, regional bodies or industry groups to deliver the programs
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- provide technical assistance, particularly for identifying potential management actions and ongoing technical assistance
- provide help writing applications if possible
- indicate the probability of success with past grants
- for payments, landholders generally prefer to receive a larger upfront payment with the residual paid in equal yearly payments or payment after each stage has been completed, rather than receive equal yearly payments
- for ongoing projects, contracts of 3–5 years with an optional extension are preferred to projects of fewer years in length
- for monitoring, include site visits half way through and at the end of the project rather than just at the end of the project, or sending in photos at key stages.
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Those most likely to participate in MBIs and incentive programs are those with the highest socio-demographic status, which raises concern about efficiency and equity. It was found that age was negatively and education was positively related to participation.
The researchers found there was evidence that if landholders hear about a program via a direct contacts (e.g. through extension officers) they are more likely to participate. The most effective communication messages emphasise the benefits to landholders and how the program will improve the management of their property and their business.
Learn more about the Encouraging Participation in Market Based Instruments and Incentive Programs project, using this link.
Use this link to download the Encouraging Participation in Market Based Instruments and Incentive Programs final report. |
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Turning salt water sludge into clean fuel |
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The Australian Government has approved a $1.89 million grant to fund a bio-diesel research project that aims to produce fuel from salt water algae, as part of Australia’s commitment to the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.
Described as ‘one of the most promising bio-fuel options on the planet’, algae is anticipated to produce low levels of carbon emissions and more than 10 times the oil of other agricultural bio-fuel stock. Growing algae in saline water on barren land also means the bio-fuel feedstock does not compete with food production. |
Murdoch University will lead the four-year project in partnership with the University of Adelaide, the South China Institute of Technology and Parry Nutraceuticals in India.
The project will assess every step of fuel production, from species selection to the operation of reliable sustainable high-oil yields and biomass disposal, to demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility of creating oil from saline ponds of algae, as well as the life-cycle emissions-reduction benefits of large scale culture of micro-algae in Australia, China and India. |
Read more about this story in the Murdoch University’s Explore newsletter available from the Murdoch University website, and find out more about turning algae into fuel online at the Murdoch University’s YouTube news site.

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Environmental offsets policy to guide Queensland development |
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The Queensland Government has moved to ensure that environmental values aren’t lost as a result of development across the state.
The Queensland Government Environmental Offsets Policy, which took effect from 1 July 2008, will assist the Government and the public to protect Queensland's environmental values.
Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation, Andrew McNamara, said the policy is a milestone for Queensland environmental protection. |
“It provides an overarching framework for the transparent and consistent use of environmental offsets,” Mr McNamara said.
“The policy will help achieve ecologically sustainable development to improve our quality of life now, and preserve the unique environmental values of Queensland for the future.” |
“Environmental offsets will be required from developments approved by state decision makers after all avenues have been utilised first to avoid and then to minimise the environmental impact,” Mr McNamara said.
The Environmental Offsets Policy is available on the EPA website. |
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Reef Rescue program will help farmers |
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The Reef Rescue program will help farmers adopt and implement land management techniques to improve the quality of water entering the Great Barrier Reef.
In 2008-09, $23 million will enable Queensland farmers, NRM regions and peak industry groups to work together to deliver land management practices essential to improving reef water quality in the catchments which flow into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
The funding comes from the $200 million Reef Rescue program, part of the federal government’s $2.25 billion Caring for our Country initiative.
Environment Minister Peter Garrett said, “The fact that organisations such as AgForce, the Queensland Farmers’ Federation, CANEGROWERS, Growcom, Queensland Dairyfarmers' Organisation, Cotton Australia, natural resource management bodies along the reef coast and the World Wildlife Fund are combining their significant knowledge and resources to mount this large-scale, coordinated approach to protecting the Great Barrier Reef gives me real confidence.” |
The Reef Rescue package is all about supporting farmers to build on their successful efforts to date to reduce nutrients, chemicals and sediments leaving their lands. Results from earlier projects show that setting up buffer zones, improving fertiliser efficiency, erecting strategic fencing, and repairing riverbanks and wetlands reduces nutrient, sediment and chemical run-off from the land.
The Reef Rescue package provides the funding to help protect the reef but this work would not be possible without the willing assistance of farmers, agricultural industries, local conservation and Indigenous groups, fishing and aquaculture industries. |
The Australian Government is working with the Queensland Government to implement Reef Rescue. Reef Rescue funding will also be used to research, develop and trial new land management technologies and apply better monitoring techniques to the Government’s reef investments.
The use of market-based instrument is one of the policy tools being considered to help implement this program.
For more information visit the Caring for our Country website.

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Carbon partnership to benefit landholders |
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South East Queensland is set to become one of Australia's hotspots for carbon sequestration following the new partnership between South East Queensland (SEQ) Catchments and Australia's leading not-for-profit carbon trading organisation, Landcare CarbonSMART.
SEQ Catchments has appointed the state's first 'super assessor', farm forestry officer Paul Daly, who will be responsible for assessing and registering carbon sinks based on biodiverse landcare revegetation plantings on private land.
"We believe the Landcare CarbonSMART model of assisting rural landholders to regenerate land parcels not being used for agriculture is excellent," Mr Daly said. |
"It not only delivers the landholder an income stream from carbon credits, it also delivers the inherent benefits of revegetation including stock and crop protection, improvement of erosion and soil salinity problems and invigorated biodiversity, all of which promotes greater productivity on the land."
Landcare CarbonSMART provides financial incentives for landholders to maintain eligible carbon credit vegetation on their land. The amount of carbon absorbed by vegetation is calculated and sold to individuals and businesses to help them take responsibility for carbon emissions. |
Landcare CarbonSMART operates as a carbon pool with a majority percentage of sales paid to the landholder, a percentage to a recovery fund (in case of vegetation failure or unavoidable destruction cause by fire or disease) and a percentage to the management and operation of the pool.
Landholders receive annual payments and when the price of carbon rises, so too will payments to landholders with the value of carbon trading estimated to be worth US$3.1 trillion by 2020.
For more information about the Landcare CarbonSMART contact SEQ Catchments on 07 3211 4404.

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Australian agricultural industries in your pocket |
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Essential facts and figures on Australian agriculture are now at your fingertips with the release of a pocket-sized reference produced by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).
Australia's Agricultural Industries 2008: At a Glance provides easy-to-read information on primary industries and on the natural resources they use. |
It provides a snapshot of the key features for each of our agriculture and food industries including their size, location and contribution to the economy, and how they are tackling pressures like climate change and a challenging trade environment. |
The At a Glance pocket book also provides information on the people who work in agriculture and food industries and live in rural and regional areas.
Copies of At a Glance are available online from DAFF's science agency, the Bureau of Rural Sciences (BRS) , or by contacting the BRS Bookshop on 1800 020 157 for hard copies. |
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Catchment Detox is an online sensation |
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Catchment Detox is a new online game about catchment management which is a lot of fun and can be quite addictive.
The game puts people in charge of their own catchment where they can decide what activities to undertake; options include planting crops, logging forests, building factories and setting up national parks. The aim is to fix environmental problems and provide food and wealth for the population. |
The model behind the game was developed by Nick Marsh, Sylvain Arene and Stuart Minchin in collaboration with the CSIRO Division of Land and Water and the eWater Cooperative Research Centre. It is based on an original idea by NRM advisor Tim Stubbs and consultant Lucy Broad. |
In August the ABC local radio ran a special radio series about the real life issues modelled in Catchment Detox. The show detailed how different communities across Australia are grappling with managing our most precious natural resources. At the end of each piece, Tim Stubbs gave extra hints and tips on the game.
Check out the Catchment Detox game online to try to repair a damaged river catchment and create a sustainable and thriving economy.

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NSW’s Biodiversity Banking and Offsets Scheme explained |
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BioBanking is a new market-based initiative of the New South Wales (NSW) Government to provide a streamlined biodiversity assessment process for development, a rigorous and credible offsetting scheme and an opportunity for rural landowners to generate income by managing land for conservation.
Under the scheme landowners can create biodiversity credits by managing their land for conservation. The credits can be sold to developers seeking to offset the impacts of development, as well as to philanthropic organisations or government seeking to secure conservation outcomes. The funds generated through sale of the credits help to fund the ongoing management of the site. |
The scheme formally commenced in July 2008 and guidance material will be made available over the following few months. Interested landowners can lodge an expression of interest in establishing a biobank site. These expressions of interest are publicly available and are a way in which potential buyers of credits can contact landowners interested in establishing a biobank site. |
For further information on BioBanking please visit the NSW environment website or contact biobanking@environment.nsw.gov.au.

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Manual on engaging South Australian Aboriginal communities |
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For some years, natural resources management (NRM) officers in South Australia (SA) have enquired about the range of mechanisms and processes required to effectively engage Aboriginal stakeholders in NRM. Queries have often been about:
- how to start the process of engagement
- cultural considerations and information about working with Aboriginal communities
- clarification of community representatives to approach
- native Title, Indigenous Land Use Agreements, heritage and other relevant legislation.
Questions about these concerns, and more, are answered in Engaging South Australian Aboriginal Communities in Natural Resources Management: A Practical Resource Manual. The user-friendly guide has been produced to inform and guide people on effectively engaging and working with Aboriginal communities in the regions. |
The document aims to provide NRM officers with a greater level of understanding of Aboriginal issues, available support networks and tools for engagement. It will be a very useful resource to assist in including Aboriginal people in market-based instrument projects in South Australia.
Download the Engaging South Australian Aboriginal Communities in Natural Resources Management - A Practical Resource Manual from the SA Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation website.
Land and Water Australia's Social and Institutional Research Program have recently published a number of reports on Indigenous natural resource management.
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These are:
Provision for Cultural Values in Water Management: The Anmatyerr Story Examinines practical ways of identifying, conveying and providing for Indigenous cultural values in water mangement. For more details see The provision for cultural values in water management - The Anmatyerr story.
Healthy Country Healthy People This project confirms the health benefits tfor Indigenous people who are actively involved in natural and cultural resource management. For more details see the Healthy Country Healthy People paper.
A Cultural and Conservation Economy for Northern Australia This study examines the suitability of a cultural and conservation economy model for sustainable development in rural and remote Indigenous communities. For more details see the A Cultural and Conservation Economy for Northern Australia paper. |
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Plastic bag trial begins in Victoria |
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The major supermarkets and the Victorian Government have launched an Australian-first trial to test a charge on plastic checkout bags.
For four weeks, supermarket shoppers in Fountain Gate, Wangaratta and Warrnambool will pay a 10c government and industry charge for each plastic checkout bag in a bid to reduce Victoria’s use of one billion bags a year.
Victorian Environment and Climate Change Minister Gavin Jennings said “Plastic checkout bags are a short-term convenience with long-term environmental impacts and the charge will prompt shoppers to ask themselves if they really need a bag.” |
“The trial will help to identify the best way of cutting plastic bag use and achieve the best result for customers, businesses and the environment.”
Mr Jennings said they are working with ANRA, Coles, Safeway and IGA to conduct the trial until 14 September. The results of the trial will also help Australia’s Environment Ministers to consider the next steps in reducing plastic bag use when they meet in Sydney in November. |
Supermarkets have been actively offering customers alternatives to plastic checkout bags for many years. The voluntary retailer code brought about a substantial reduction in plastic bag use.
These efforts have already resulted in millions of customers making the shift to reusable bags. Shoppers are now much more conscious about taking a plastic bag than they used to be.
Funds raised from the trial will be devoted to local environmental projects.
For more information or to provide feedback call 136 186 or visit sustainability.vic.gov.au

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New website outlines water entitlement purchases |
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A new website has been set up to provide information on the Australian Government's water entitlement purchases.
The Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, said the Restoring the Balance in the Murray-Darling Basin Program website contains information on purchases made as part of the government's $50 million water entitlement buy-back to help return Murray-Darling Basin rivers to health. |
"The website includes aggregated data about the purchases, including volumes, entitlement type, amount spent and water source," Senator Wong said. "This data will be progressively refined and updated over time as more purchases are concluded. The confidentiality and privacy of sellers will be protected," Senator Wong said.
The Australian Government's initial $50 million buy-back has secured entitlements to 35 billion extra litres of water for Murray-Darling Basin rivers from willing sellers. This was the first ever direct purchase of water by the federal government for the Murray-Darling Basin. |
"Purchasing water from willing sellers is a crucial step in supporting healthy rivers and tackling the effects of climate change – priorities under the Australian Government's Water for the Future plan," Senator Wong said.
"A stakeholder consultative committee has been appointed to assist in evaluating the success of the $50 million purchase, and to provide feedback on the design and implementation of the government's water purchase program into the future."
"Our water purchase program will mean that rivers in the Basin will get a greater share of water as it becomes available," Senator Wong said. |
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Community to benefit from extra funding |
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At least $2 million will be spent on community benefits in addition to a comprehensive range of offsets as a condition of environmental approval for a freight line in Sydney’s south-west.
Commonwealth Environment Minister Peter Garrett said The Australian Rail Track Corporation proposal will only be approved on the condition that works include benefits for local residents and councils living along the proposed rail corridor.
The NSW Southern Sydney Freight Line project, designed to take trucks off roads and free up passenger services, involves building a 30km freight line from Macarthur to Sefton. |
Mr Garrett said “In considering this proposal, I’ve looked closely at its impacts on the environment as well as the social and economic impacts.”
“In particular, a minimum $2 million community offsets plan must be developed and will need to be approved before construction can start on this project.”
“I’ve also stipulated that the offsets plan, as well as a plan to improve the visual aspects of the project, be prepared in consultation with the community.” |
“This is about finding a balance between providing an essential service to Sydney and ensuring the environment, including social impacts, is adequately protected.”
Mr Garret said the project would provide important infrastructure to Sydney, relieve the pressure of heavy haulage on the roads and free up existing passenger services.
"At the same time, there are approval conditions in place to minimise the impacts on local residents and the local environs," Mr Garrett said.
The approval conditions can be found at Environment website. |
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North’s cane farmers rise to reef challenge |
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North Queensland cane farmers have become increasingly aware of the important role they can play in sustaining the long-term health of the Great Barrier Reef.
As part of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries’ (DPI&F) Reef Extension Project, more than 100 cane farmers from Cairns to Home Hill have been engaged over the past three years.
The project puts in place a dedicated team of extension specialists tasked with assisting producers in the voluntary adoption of management practices capable of supporting profitable sugar production systems, while also improving the quality of water leaving farms and entering the Great Barrier Reef. |
Project manager Adam West said, “We worked to showcase how environmentally sensitive management measures could be incorporated into farming systems without having to compromise profitability.”
“Working in partnership with regional natural resource management bodies and industry, the project delivered a range of services including on-farm demonstration trials, workshops and economic assessments," Adam West said. |
Senior project officer Rob Milla teamed up with FutureCane and BSES officers to promote relevant farming system components including best practice nutrient, soil health and irrigation management, controlled traffic, legume crops and computer based software tools to enhance record keeping and decision making.
The project assisted the development of an agreed set of Best Management Practices tailored to the Lower Burdekin sugar sector, with a specific emphasis on reducing nutrient, sediment and agri-chemical loss.
For more information, contact the DPI&F Business Information Centre on 13 25 23.

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Door wide open for private investment in the water industry |
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The New South Wales (NSW) Government has officially opened the door for private-sector involvement in the supply of water and sewerage services in the Sydney and Hunter regions.
The introduction of a regulatory framework will allow competition in the Sydney and Hunter water markets, which is a key part of the NSW’s Government’s plan to boost private investment in water recycling.
The Water Industry Competition Act 2006 and Water Industry Competition (General) Regulation 2008 provide a licensing regime for private companies that supply water and sewerage services in metropolitan NSW. |
The Regulation also contains provisions to protect consumers, water quality and the environment.
The commencement of the Act and Regulation will provide the framework for the development of a robust, competitive and sustainable water industry in NSW. |
More information on the Act and the Regulation is available from the website of the NSW Department of Water and Energy.

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Lower Darling water trading rules relaxed |
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The New South Wales (NSW) Government has acted to free up more water for drought-stricken Murray-Darling farmers.
The NSW Minister for Water announced the relaxing of water trading rules to allow water from the Lower-Darling River to be temporarily traded into the Murray and Murrumbidgee River systems.
The Murray and Murrumbidgee systems remain in the grip of the worst drought on record with many producers in dire need of more water.
The NSW Government has taken this action to make more water available to sustain water-dependent industries, such as permanent plantings.
Under the existing rules, water cannot be traded out of the Lower Darling when the management of the Menindee Lakes is in NSW control. This rule has been relaxed to enable licensed water users in the Lower Darling to trade water from their accounts for the 2008/09 water year. |
The Lower Darling water users were allocated some of the flows that reached the Menindee Lakes from the 2007-08 summer floods in northern NSW and Queensland.
However, in many cases the flows came too late for autumn crops and most of this water was carried over to this year’s water accounts.
This rule change gives Lower Darling licensees the choice to use this water to irrigate their crops or to sell to other licensees in the Murray and Murrumbidgee River systems. |
This will benefit irrigators in NSW, Victoria and South Australia by immediately increasing the volume of water available on the water market.
The rule change was agreed to by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission and will be in place for one year. It applies only to temporary trades with permanent trades not permitted. Additionally, licence holders will be permitted to trade water into the Lower Darling River, provided trade into the valley does not exceed trade out.
The NSW Government is continually monitoring water resources in the Murray-Darling Basin and will continue to take action to provide as much water as possible to local industries. |
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Tasmania's rural communities receive $5.83 million in funding |
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Rural communities in the Cradle Coast region, along with the Tasmanian devil and the wedge-tailed eagle, are beneficiaries of a $5.83 million Caring for our Country funding package to protect and restore Tasmania’s natural resources.
The funds will go towards improving some of Tasmania’s most serious environmental problems. The Cradle Coast communities would benefit from projects to protect the highly fertile soils of the region and improve water quality. |
The Cradle Coast contains 66 per cent of Tasmania’s prime agricultural land. Protecting soil and water quality through improved farming practices such as controlled traffic farming, soil mulching and improving dairy effluent management will bring about positive economic outcomes for farmers as well as delivering environmental benefits.
Funding will also be invested in larger-scale conservation; where economic, agricultural, health and social impacts are considered alongside environmental impacts. |
A significant proportion of the funding would also be used to protect threatened species across the state. The wedge-tailed eagles and the Tasmanian devil are Australian icons, but a changing environment, disease and urban growth are all putting pressure on these wonderful creatures.
NRM North, the natural resource management body in northern Tasmania, will protect the nests of wedge-tailed eagles by limiting public access and establishing protective vegetation screens around the nests. The funding will also be used to improve vegetation corridors across Tasmania to provide easier movement and safer breeding grounds for the Tasmanian devil and support communities to restore wetlands and re-vegetate degraded areas. |
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Registration opens for the Designer Carrots National MBI Forum |
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Registration is open for the Designer Carrots National Market Based Instruments Forum, which is being held on 30 September and 1 October at Rydges South Bank Brisbane, Brisbane.
Whether it’s carrots or sticks that you use for natural resource and environmental management, the National MBIs Forum will provide plenty of dialogue to help you improve your knowledge and understanding of the right incentives for you.
The forum is the finale of the one-year National MBI Capacity Building Program, which is funded by the Australian, State and Territory governments.
The forum has been specifically designed for policy makers, MBI implementers, and researchers to come together to share ideas and lessons, and to help set the future direction of MBIs in Australia.
The forum will include an interesting mix of keynote speakers, panels, facilitated discussions, workshops and a debate. The forum has two broad themes, each with a number of topics and themes for discussion (subject to confirmation).
The big-picture issues to be covered are:
- MBIs in the broader policy spectrum (what?, why?, when?)
- five things everyone needs to know about the current round of national MBI pilot research projects
- the cutting edge: what next for MBIs
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Issues relevant to specific applications of MBIs, or environmental problems
- what’s happening in my neck of the woods (a platform for regional NRM bodies, NGOs and other implementers to share lessons from MBI implementation)
- getting the right people and organisations involved in MBIs: optimising communication and participation
- monitoring and evaluation of MBIs
- metrics
- the use of MBIs in different landscapes (peri-urban, rangelands, Indigenous managed land)
- Designer Carrots seed money projects: sharing lessons
- the use of MBIs for alternative environmental problems (reef, coastal management, water quality, water quantity and security, vegetation and biodiversity, carbon)
- insights and directions in capacity for MBIs.
Date and location The forum will be held in Brisbane on 30 September and 1 October 2008 at Rydges South Bank in Brisbane, close to the river and the city centre, and in the heart of the lively South Bank precinct.
Costs There is no charge to attend the forum. However, delegates will have to cover their own cost of travel and accommodation. |
To register, visit the Designer Carrots website.
For more information about the program contact:

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New program to protect, maintain and enhance Tamar Estuary and Esk Rivers |
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A program has been established to protect, maintain and enhance the waterways of the North and South Esk river systems and the Tamar Estuary in Tasmania.
The Tamar Estuary and Esk Rivers (TEER) Program was launched in Launceston by the Tasmanian Minister for Environment, Parks, Heritage and the Arts, Michelle O’Byrne, the Federal Member for Bass, Jodie Campbell; and NRM North.
The TEER Program provides the vehicle for managing the Tamar Estuary and its tributaries from catchment to coast and enables all partners to work together towards a common goal.
The TEER Program is a collaboration between the Tasmanian Government, National Resource Management North, Launceston City Council, West Tamar Council, George Town Council, Meander Valley Council and Hydro Tasmania.
NRM North Chair Richard Ireland welcomed the establishment of TEER at a time when the community is expecting both greater accountability and possible solutions.
The Australian Government has provided $260,000 to NRM North to develop a sediment model to determine how much sediment was entering the Tamar Estuary from the upper catchment river systems. |
Also launched was the State of the Tamar Report 2008 and Tamar Estuary Management Plan 2008, which provides technical information and management strategies to underpin the TEER Program.
The State of the Tamar Report reviews the environmental quality data for the Tamar Estuary to determine the state of its health, and highlight environmental trends. The report shows that the estuary is in relatively good condition when compared to other estuaries around Australia which have a similar level of urban development.
The Tamar Estuary has a rich diversity of plant and animal life, supporting more than 60 species of birds and 110 species of finfish. It is also home to a number of threatened species and native vegetation communities, including the threatened green and gold frog which breeds at the Tamar Island wetlands. A range of environmental issues affect the Tamar Estuary asa result of urbanisation and development including excessive sedimentation and bacteria levels. |
The State of the Tamar Report also provides an overview of recent management actions and recommendations for further actions.
In this year's Budget, the Tasmanian Government allocated $150,000 to support the TEER Program and an additional $100,000 to contribute towards a study initiated by the Launceston City Council to review options for addressing sedimentation in the upper Tamar Estuary.
The Tasmanian Government, local government and NRM North will work together in partnership with industry groups and the community through the TEER Program so that the Tamar Estuary and North and South Esk River Systems are well managed and continue to support a healthy and diverse ecosystem.
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The history of ecoMarkets |
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In July 2006 the Victorian Government released a statement called Our Environment, Our Future which outlined the state's efforts to start improving the quality of the environment and the way Victorians live. This statement contained 150 key actions that were considered necessary to make Victoria a sustainable state by responding to a growing number of environmental impacts that Victorians are faced with.
The ecoMarkets project is a component of Our Environment, Our Future, and uses a comprehensive, market-based approach to environmental policy to achieve a full range of ecosystem services.
The name ecoMarkets has been given to the system of market-based approaches designed to reward landholders for environmental improvements on their properties. These programs include market-based approaches such as auctions and cap-and-trade systems. |
ecoMarkets has been developed by the Victorian Government to balance ecosystem health and agricultural productivity. Its purpose is to provide incentives for producing ecosystem outcomes such as clean water and biodiversity.
In the past, markets have focused on agricultural and resource commodities without placing a value on the underlying health of the ecosystem. This economic system has not rewarded investment in the revegetation of land, or accounted for the long-term environmental impacts of land use.
For the past 10 years Victoria has championed the development of market-based programs like EcoTender, BushBroker and BushTender. ecoMarkets will build on these schemes. Please visit the Examples of ecoMarkets page for more information about these programs. |
Through ecoMarkets, landholders can enter into contracts to improve ecosystem outcomes such as habitat quality, river health and soil health. Instead of choosing what to grow or graze based solely on commodity prices, ecoMarkets will open up a potential new income stream that pays landholders for improving the underlying health of the ecosystem.
Landholders, with the help of skilled field staff, will be able to see first hand the predicted ecosystem outcomes arising from different land and water use options. This will assist landholders with their property planning and decision-making, and allow them to develop detailed contracts specifying the actions they will take to improve ecosystem health.
The ecoMarkets initiative will finetune these market-based approaches, management systems and ecological science. The aim is to demonstrate how economic decision-making informed by ecological science can deliver the best possible environmental outcomes on private land for all Victorians. |
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Victoria welcomes green paper on emissions trading |
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The Victorian Government welcomed the release of the Commonwealth’s Green Paper on an Emissions Trading Scheme.
The Victorian Environment and Climate Change Minister, Gavin Jennings said the final design of an Emissions Trading Scheme was a matter for the Commonwealth but Victoria was committed to assisting them in developing a scheme which reduces emissions while not exposing households and businesses to unnecessary hardship.
The Victorian Government is welcoming measures to both include transport in an Emissions Trading Scheme while minimising the effect of the scheme on working families. |
According to Mr Jennings, the high cost of fuel driven by international factors is already imposing an increased cost on motorists so the proposal for a federal excise offset would appear to be a reasonable way to balance the need to reduce emissions with the needs of working families.
Victorians have been encouraged to use energy more efficiently and make the switch to greenpower. An effective emissions trading scheme can reduce the impact of climate change on the environment and economy while encouraging innovation and investment in the power industry. |
The Victorian Government will be releasing a fact sheet on emissions trading later this year to help Victorians to understand how the scheme will work and any new terms being used in the development of the scheme.
“We need to ensure a pathway to a low emissions future protecting communities – especially low income households – while maintaining the viability of the electricity generation sector as it moves to lower emissions,” Mr Jennings said.

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Subscribing: If this email has been forwarded to you and you now wish to subscribe yourself, you can do so directly by email to The MBI Incentives newsletter or via the Designer Carrots website.
The MBI Incentive is a monthly newsletter published by Catchment Programs (formely known as Community Partnerships), the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water, for Designer Carrots, the national MBI Capacity Building Program. For more information about the Designer Carrots program, go to our website at www.marketbasedinstruments.gov.au
We welcome your contributions and feedback. If you have any comments or suggestions for The MBI Incentive newsletter please contact:
Editor and Communication officer: Carl Glen
Program Coordinator: Claire Heath
Unsubscribe from this newsletter: This newsletter has been sent in the understanding that you have consented to its delivery. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter in the future, you can unsubscribe by either replying to this email with "unsubscribe" in the subject line or directly using this link, Designer carrots newsletter. |
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| | Tuesday, 2 September 2008 - Invitation to the Designer Carrots National MBI Forum | Designer Carrots National MBI Forum
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Invitation to the Designer Carrots National MBI Forum |
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I am writing to invite you to the National Market Based Instruments (MBI) Forum at Rydges South Bank, Brisbane, on 30 September and 1 October 2008. Registration is now open at marketbasedinstruments.gov.au.
The two-day National MBI Forum is part of the national MBI Capacity Building Program [1] (Designer Carrots) and presents keynote speakers from around the country, panels and facilitated concurrent sessions.
The forum will be attended by delegates involved in policy, research, legislation, natural resource management (NRM), and environmental and conservation management. It aims to share a broad range of ideas and lessons and to help set the direction of MBIs for better environmental outcomes.
The program covers the following themes:
- MBIs in the broader policy spectrum
- the cutting edge: what’s next for MBIs in NRM.
Concurrent sessions will cover the following topics:
- what’s happening in my neck of the woods: a platform for regional NRM groups, non-government organisations and other implementers to share lessons from MBI implementation
- the five most important things learned from the MBI Pilot Program
- best-practice metrics: what are they, and why do you need them?
- getting the right people involved in MBIs
- sharing the lessons from recent Designer Carrots seed money projects
- issues, constraints and opportunities for MBIs in peri-urban Australia
- monitoring and evaluation for MBIs
- water: security, quality and quantity
- vegetation and biodiversity
- challenges for using MBIs in Indigenous communities and rangelands
- climate change: MBIs to the rescue?
- does Australia have the capacity to conduct successful MBIs?
For more information on the forum, please contact Sean Marler on 07 3227 6676 or sean.marler@nrw.qld.gov.au. |

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[1] Funded by the Australian, State and Territory Governments.
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| | Monday, 21 July 2008 - The MBI Incentive - July |
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July 2008 |
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Welcome to the latest edition of The MBI Incentive where topics associated with market-based instruments (MBIs) such as regional NRM conservation tenders, are discussed and case studies and project stories are posted.
If you experience any technical difficulties with this newsletter, please email Carl Glen.
Please click here to view for past editions of The MBI Incentive.
Stories |
National
Northern Teritory
New South Wales
Victoria
South Australia
Queensland
Tasmania
Western Australia
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Designer Carrots program update |
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The national Market Based Instruments (MBI) Capacity Building Program (Designer Carrots) has been extended until the end of September 2008. Designer Carrots products are now available and they include the following.
Website Stage two of the Designer Carrots website is now complete and this brings new online tools to the website, including online versions of the MBI decision support tool, metric tool and training modules.
This website provides an ongoing portal for MBI information. It contains all the Designer Carrots fact sheets, case studies and general information on MBIs, and has useful support mechanisms such as the Little Orange Book (a ‘yellow pages’ of MBI practitioners) and an events calendar.
Case studies and fact sheets Eight fact sheets and three case studies are available from the Designer Carrots website. They have been tailored to various levels of MBI awareness. |
Designer Carrots Seed Money This service is designed to provide the resources to broker knowledge and build the capacity of regional natural resource management (NRM) bodies to implement and design MBIs. It was announced on 31 October 2007 and is timed so key learnings can be communicated at the regional workshops. There were 10 successful applicants who will soon complete their projects.
Decision support tool and metric framework These tools help to create a knowledge platform for the consistent national application of MBIs. The decision support tool will provide guidance to assist in determining the feasibility of applying different MBIs. The metric essentials online tool is a framework which aims to communicate current knowledge and recent experience in metric design and implementation.
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Practitioners’ network This network has been developed as a community of MBI practice through face-to-face contact (workshops) and virtual networking, and uses the website to further facilitate interaction. Network members now have access to the Designer Carrots website and Little Orange Book, creating an ongoing resource.
Training package and regional workshops The first eight of eighteen two-day regional workshops being held nationwide have been a great success. These workshops for regional NRM groups and for government agencies are providing training, practical information, and a forum for discussion on the development, administration, communication, monitoring and evaluation of key MBI approaches. The workshop dates and venues are posted on the Designer Carrots website.
Following the regional workshops the Designer Carrots program will host a national MBI forum.
Please email Carl Glen or the Coordinator Claire Heath or phone on (07) 3239 3875 if you have any questions about the MBI Capacity Building Program.

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Comparing River Tender with the NECMA’s Landholder Agreements |
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The Victorian North East Catchment Management Authority’s (NECMA) Designer Carrots Seed Money project involved comparing River Tender with the NECMA’s existing conventional riparian funding program, Landholder Agreements (LA).
The project compared these programs in terms of landholder attitudes, program economics and biophysical results on the ground, both in terms of initial project implementation and ongoing site maintenance.
The landholder attitudes and behavioural change element of the project was successfully completed through the use of landholder surveys carried out for the NECMA by Charles Sturt University (CSU). The survey return rates were in excess of 70% for both groups (RT = 84% & LA = 77%) providing a high degree of confidence that the results provided a good reflection of landholder attitudes over both programs.
The surveys assessed landholder attitudes for a range of social and farming variables.Overall, the CSU survey revealed surprisingly few differences between the two funding schemes. Participants were similar in terms of demographics, and held comparable views of the economic and environmental values of riparian land. The survey also showed that the MBI program did not engage a different landholder group than the conventional LA program. However, RT participants were significantly more likely to accept that grazing of riparian land has caused environmental damage in the past and that set stocking of these areas is not a good idea.
In terms of the ongoing maintenance of their project sites there was little difference between RT and LA participants in the short term, but RT landholders indicated that they were more likely to continue maintenance work in the longer term.
Assessment of the on-ground results was carried out by the consultancy business Riparian Management Services (RMS) and involved the inspection of 27 RT and 20 LA projects. Due to differences in the design of the two funding programs, the most direct like-for-like comparison was achieved by examining the results of how well projects had been maintained since initial implementation. There was no evidence in the data to suggest that RT projects were being better maintained than LA ones. |
Similarly, when the implementation and maintenance datasets were combined, no significant differences were recorded.
Comparison of program economics was carried out by the consultancy service URS Australia. Data from the NECMA’s Landholder Partnership (LP) program were used for this comparison as the LP and LA programs are very similar, but the former provided a better data set to work from. Even with this improved data, this comparison proved to be the most difficult to complete as different accounting methods, different program outputs and the available records made like-for-like assessments extremely difficult. The economic analysis yielded the following data:
- total program costs were divided into “project management” and “project implementation” and were found to be almost exactly the same between the two programs – approximately 35% and 65% respectively. Under the RT program 91% of the total to be spent on project implementation is made up of landholder grants
- the average RT project cost $32,560 while the average LP project received $28,349.
There is only weak evidence to suggest that participation in a MBI leads to greater commitment from landholders to their projects. Other factors, such as the level of landholder experience in implementing on-ground projects, seem more important.
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However, the following points emerged from the research and may be worth considering when designing MBIs in the future.
- This study presents little evidence to support the notion that MBIs attract a different demographic to the CMA’s existing LA program.
- The strong preference shown for ongoing contact with field staff may require a review of how future programs are resourced.
- Providing ongoing support from field staff could also help resolve another identified problem area: the difficulties being experienced with project maintenance by those landholders with less on-ground experience.
- The issue of how to ensure that bidders are accurately pricing their projects needs further consideration.
In addition this project has highlighted some of the difficulties that may be encountered when trying to conduct an economic comparison between programs. For such an analysis to be effective, it is essential that the accounting methods and outputs from each program are as closely aligned as possible. For any comparisons proposed in the future, this could be achieved by designing the programs with this in mind from the outset. If this is not possible, conducting a preliminary analysis to see if the data exist to allow a like-for-like comparison should be undertaken first.

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Dates for remaining Designer Carrots MBIs workshops |
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Learn more about market-based instruments (MBIs) by attending one of 18 free two-day workshops which are being conducted throughout Australia.
The first eight Designer Carrots MBI training workshops have been a great success. Held in Townsville, Perth (twice), Brisbane, Adelaide (twice), Darwin and Alice Springs.
The dates of the remaining workshops are as follows:
- 4-5 August Brisbane
- 11-12 August Sydney
- 13-14 August Wagga Wagga
- 26-27 August Sydney*
- 4-5 August Melbourne
- 6-7 August Melbourne
- 11-12 August Launceston
- 13-14 August Hobart
- 25-26 August Canberra
- 27-28 August Canberra.
* Please note: the location for the workshop on 26-27 August has been changed from Tamworth to Sydney. |
Regional group and government staff with an interest in MBIs are invited to attend these two-day workshops which aim to increase the capacity of government policymakers and regional groups to use MBIs such as offsets, conservation tenders and cap-and-trade mechanisms as tools to assist in the management of natural resources.
The training will provide information on what MBI policy options are available and how to use them.
There will also be practical examples and hands-on activities that explore the design of MBIs. A number of products suc | | | | |
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