Nature Assist

NatureAssist (a five-year funding initiative launched in 2006) establishes a custom-made nature refuge agreement, which allows landholders to actively manage special conservation values of their properties and sustainable production by balancing the needs of the environment with their business goals, emphasizing the conservation of biodiversity as an important part of property management. Landholders are eligible for funding through a tender process for work such as fencing, watering points and weed control on part or all of their properties. This land is then covered by a voluntary perpetual conservation agreement with the EPA as a nature refuge (a category of protected area under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 ) . There are now 242 Nature Refuges across Queensland on property enterprises as diverse as grazing, cropping, horticulture and ecotourism.

Funding targets landholders who are managing some of Queensland’s most threatened ecosystems which are rich in plant and animal diversity, particularly many endemic species. These ecosystems often face immediate threat from impacts such as land clearing, development pressures, salinity, weeds and feral animals due to their unique position in the landscape and will be priorities according to EPBC values.

NatureAssist uses EPA’s Incentives Tender model to allocate financial incentives to landholders. The process goes like this:

A landholder submits an Expression of Interest in the program
Expressions of Interest are received and an assessment carried out (desktop or field assessment)
Successful expressions of interest are invited to tender
Tenders are received and put through a biodiversity benefits index which ranks projects
Projects are interpreted by an expert panel and successful bids confirmed
Landholders are notified and formal invoices for works are raised
Successful bidders will be paid a financial amount similar to the amount that they specified within their bid via a one off payment.

Tenders are ranked using a CSIRO developed Biodiversity Benefits Index which uses information such as regional ecosystems, biodiversity planning assessments (which includes connectivity, endemicity, EVR’s, landscape function, size etc.), management intent, condition, threats, viability as well as dollars asked for. The score from this assessment is then interpreted by an expert panel and then compared to the scores of other projects.

Project Update:

Assessment of the first cycle of NatureAssist applications was completed in February by expert panel convened by EPA in Brisbane. The criteria were in part based upon a metric developed by CSIRO. The outcome of this assessment is that the BDTNRM has the opportunity to invest in three properties covering over 9000 ha.