The Australian government has issued a call for partners to help develop a pipeline of methods to make projects eligible for earning credits under the Nature Repair Market (NRM), with A$3 million ($2 mln) available in funding during FY2024-25.
Officials are eyeing a potential Jan. 2025 launch for the NRM, which will be the world’s first government-run voluntary biodiversity credit market after it was legislated last year.
“We’re preparing for the launch of the Nature Repair Market by ensuring there is a pipeline of methods in development,” the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) said in a statement Friday.
“The [NRM] is a priority initiative under the Nature Positive Plan. Methods are required for landholders to conduct different types of projects … Methods will make it easier for businesses, philanthropists, and other Australians to invest in activities that repair and protect nature.”
Anyone with sufficient technical and scientific expertise can apply for funding to partner with the government by the Sep. 5 deadline, with the tender mentioning universities, specialist consulting firms, First Nations organisations, conservation and natural resource management groups, and professional services companies as likely candidates.
“We invite tenders to develop methods that enhance and protect existing environments as well as establish and restore habitat,” the DCCEEW said.
The methods will outline requirements any project must meet to become eligible under the scheme, as well as specifying activities to be carried out.
They can also include requirements related to reporting, notification, record keeping, and project monitoring, the statement said.
WORK ONGOING
While this is the first public call for potential method development partners, the government said it is already working with various technical experts and organisations on a handful of methods.
Those include:
• Enhancing remnant vegetation, informed by an existing pilot
• A carbon + biodiversity method, allowing the generation of carbon credits as well as biodiversity certificates, under the existing Carbon + Biodiversity pilot
• Protecting, restoring, and managing native forests
• Invasive pest management
• A permanent protection method
• Enhancing habitat in arid and semi-arid rangelands
“We’re also partnering with Indigenous organisations to develop Indigenous-led methods. These will ensure Indigenous ecological knowledge and values are a key feature in the market,” the government said.
“Once established, the Nature Repair Committee will advise the minister on the prioritisation of further method development.”
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