Native Vegetation - Incentives and Trading

Native Vegetation Home | Incentives for managing native vegetation | State Government programs

Incentives and trading for managing native vegetation

There are a number of incentive schemes that provide landholders financial benefits for protecting and managing native vegetation.

Some local governments provide rebates or exemptions on council rates to landholders entering approved agreements such as Conservation Covenants.Catchment Management Authorities also have programs to support landholders.

There are also a number of National Programs available. In some cases, tax concessions may be available to landholders entering into a Conservation Covenant. Substantial tax incentives may apply to donors of land for conservation purposes. For information on these issues contact the Commonwealth Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, the Victorian Trust for Nature and/or the Australian Taxation Office.

page top

State Government Programs

Incentives

BushTender

BushTender is auction-based. Landholders tender for contracts to improve their native vegetation. Successful landholders receive periodic payments under signed agreements for management actions above those required by their current obligations and legislation.

CarbonTender

CarbonTender is part of the State Government's Victorian Greenhouse Strategy. It pays landholders to create 'carbon sinks' of native vegetation, that absorb carbon dioxide, restore local ecosystems and help them adapt to climate change. It offers landholders two potential income streams:

1. establishment payments from State Government for five years; and
2. future income opportunities from carbon trading - already a reality in international markets.

EcoTender

The EcoTender project uses an auction-based system to allocate funds to support delivery of multiple environmental benefits including improvements in biodiversity, water quality and addressing salinity. Landholders submit bids based on an agreed plan. Successful landholders receive periodic payments under agreements signed with DSE.

Trading

BushBroker

The Victorian Government established BushBroker to help improve the quality and extent of native vegetation in the State.

BushBroker facilitates the location of sites that could generate Native Vegetation Credits. These could potentially be used as offsets, on different properties to where the native vegetation is being cleared (this is called a third party offset). Details of these sites are maintained on the BushBroker database.

Native Vegetation Offsets can often be generated on the permit holder's own property. But there are situations where this is not possible. For example, where there is no suitable site on the property or the permit holder is not able to manage the native vegetation in the long-term.

In most cases the clearing of any native vegetation that requires planning approval must be offset by a gain elsewhere. Native Vegetation Offsets are permanently protected and linked to a particular clearing site.

page top