Efforts to grow private investment in nature, using environmental markets, are gaining momentum with the registration of a second project through the Albanese Government's Nature Repair Market.
The new project will restore native rainforest in the NSW Northern Rivers region.
Located on 19.9 hectares (equivalent to 28 Sydney Football Stadium fields) of cattle grazing property near Doon Doon, southwest of Murwillumbah, the project will plant native trees and shrubs to restore rainforest ecosystems on steep slopes and stabilise areas around creeks and gullies.
Alongside environmental repair efforts, the property will continue to host a productive cattle breeding business.
The Albanese Government launched the Nature Repair Market last year to support landholders, farmers, First Nations groups and conservation groups to invest in activities that deliver verifiable environmental results under a strong integrity framework.
This new project means that nearly 460 hectares of land is now being restored through the Nature Repair Market.
The new project's proponent, 24 Degree Forest, is a carbon service provider with a particular interest in restoring rainforests.
The project is on the same parcel of land as a project registered to earn carbon credits under the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme. The two schemes are aligned to provide more opportunities for landholders and investors to achieve carbon and biodiversity outcomes.
The first method under the Nature Repair Market complements the ACCU Scheme to allow project stacking on the same land.
Land managers will soon be able to participate in a second method which will support projects that enhance biodiversity in areas with existing native vegetation. Additionally, reforms to the EPBC Act last year will allow Nature Repair Market projects to be used as environmental offsets.
