French Island Offset Site

Nature Advisory is accredited by the Department of the Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) as an Offset Site Assessor for the purpose of establishing first or third party offsets for listing on DELWP and Native Vegetation Credit Register (NVCR).

The NVCR is a market-based offset credit trading scheme (formerly known as BushBroker) which was developed by DELWP to provide a new income source for landholders and a convenient source of offsets for applicants seeking planning approval to clear native vegetation. Landholders with existing native vegetation on their properties, or with the intention of revegetating an area of their property, can profit by improving the quality and security of such native vegetation and then trading the resultant Native Vegetation Credits to applicants for native vegetation clearance, who require offset credits to satisfy their offset obligations.

Nature Advisory was approached by the owner of a 60-hectare property on Scotchmans Road, French Island, to assist them in establishing a third party offset site on the property, with the intention of trading the resultant Native Vegetation Credits for profit through the NVCR.

What it involved

This involved undertaking a native vegetation site assessment to inform the preparation of a formal Landowner Agreement under Section 69 of the Conservation, Forests and Lands Act 1987, between the landholder and DELWP. The Landowner Agreement is a standardised formal legal document by which the offset site is secured in perpetuity for the purpose of a Native Vegetation Offset Site and also includes a Management Plan for the site which details management actions and commitments for improving the quality of the vegetation, which is the basis for the offset.

Outcome

Nature Advisory prepared all of the necessary supporting documents for the Landowner Agreement for the Scotchmans Road offset site, including the Assessment Report, Management Plan, various maps and a Title Plan. Nature Advisory also liaised with DELWP throughout their quality assurance process for the Landowner Agreement. The Scotchmans Road offset site was successfully registered on the NVCR as a Native Vegetation Credit Site and several trades have since occurred.