The Australian government has put the call out for experts to join a panel that will ensure its Nature Repair Market (NRM) is informed by scientific rigour and First Nations perspectives, it announced Wednesday.
The Biodiversity Assessment Expert Reference Group will provide independent advice to the government on the design and implementation of the science and knowledge system underpinning the NRM, it said.
It will help ensure the NRM is informed by science, and enables First Nations people to contribute their unique knowledge on their terms, according to the government.
The group’s terms of reference said it would function in an advisory role only, and will be encouraged to provide consolidated advice and nominate a “preferred outcome or approach” to matters it considers.
Fourteen members will sit on the panel, including a chair, and will demonstrate “an ability for multi-disciplinary thinking and expertise in areas relevant to biodiversity markets”.
Areas of expertise listed include First Nations management of country, landscape ecology, environmental economics and finance, and biodiversity monitoring, among others.
Appointments will be made for initial 12-month terms, with the possibility of being extended to 24 months.
The legislation for the NRM passed through Parliament earlier this month, however there is still some uncertainty around how it will function in practice.
Applications are open until Feb. 1, 2024.
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