Report on panel discussion on “Can I get paid to farm nature?”
Posted on 13 May, 2012 by Connecting Country
The evening of Wednesday 18 April saw about 40 landholders from Mount Alexander Shire and more far flung districts gather to learn more on the topic “Can I get paid to farm nature?”
After a fine meal, attendees settled in to listen to a panel of speakers. First up was Chris Timewell from Connecting Country. Chris outlined Connecting Country’s Yellow Box Woodland project and the sorts of on-ground works and management actions funded through the program. Peter Johnson from DSE talked about the longstanding and successful Land for Wildlife program, which while voluntary in nature, often forms a stepping stone to covenanting or other actions.
Tim Read from Trust for Nature talked about the Trust’s conservation covenants and the assistance available to landholders contemplating covenanting their land. The secure and permanent legal protection of natural values that a covenant provides can be an end in itself but is also an increasingly important component of other “market based” opportunities that involve landholders being paid to provide a range conservation actions. Examples of these marked based approaches include the Bushtender scheme of auctions for conservation contracts developed by DSE.
Members of the audience also heard from Nick Lewis of ES Link Services, a locally based consultancy which specialises in linking landholders with vegetation they want to protect and maintain with parties needing to secure an “offset” as a condition of an application to clear native vegetation. Nick outlined how the system works and the sorts of considerations landholders need to be aware of in determining whether such opportunities are right for them.
Finally Paul Dettman from Greenhouse Balanced provided an overview of the operation of the Carbon Farming Initiative (the CFI), an important component of the Commonwealth governments “Clean Energy Future Package”. As Paul explained, the CFI involves landholders being paid to undertake activities which are accredited as being suitable for avoiding emissions or for sequestering carbon in soils of vegetation. Demand for the “credits” produced will come from industries needing to buy carbon permits or from the government purchasing credits. This is a complex scheme that has not yet become fully operational, but Paul’s presentation made it clear that it holds some significant potential as a source of income for those interested in protecting existing vegetation or establishing replantings. Certainly something to watch and maybe a topic for Connecting Country to revisit once the opportunities under the scheme for those of us in Central Victoria become a little clearer.
Nick Lewis from ES Link Services, Paul Dettmann from Greenhouse Balanced and Tim Read from Trust for Nature prepare for an evening of community discussion on ‘Can I get paid to farm nature?’
Denis Saunder’s talk
We have posted an audio version of Denis Saunder’s talk, Biodiversity and agriculture, on our website. The talk took place at a Connecting Country evening event on 20 March. Click here to access the link.
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