Landowner
Entering into a Native Vegetation Offset agreement is a means to get help to manage your property more effectively. Trust for Nature’s Native Vegetation Offset Program can provide financial support through an offset agreement to improve, protect and better manage the native vegetation on your land and achieve the conservation goals you have for your property.
The first step to being involved in the Native Vegetation Offset Program is to register your interest. If your property is matched to an offset request, we will work with you through the whole Native Vegetation Offset process. Trust for Nature will:
1. Help to arrange the preparation of an offset management plan of your property – the plan will guide your land management actions
2. Support negotiations to achieve an agreed price with a proponent
3. Establish a conservation covenant on your property
4. Manage the offset trading process with the relevant authorities, and
5. Provide land management and monitoring advice (stewardship) throughout the 10 year offset agreement period.
Your role
Typically, the offset process requires that you:
• Protect your property through an offset conservation covenant – a permanent on-title agreement that Trust for Nature will process for you
• Agree to implement a 10 year management plan to maintain and improve the quality of the native vegetation on your property
• Report on your management plan progress and allow Trust for Nature to assess your progress
The Native Vegetation Offset process
The first step is to register your interest with us through a registration of interest form. We will use the environmental information you provide to assess your property’s eligiblity for the offset program, and then work to pair you with an offset request that matches your property details.
Funding available
The amount of funding available varies according to a range of factors including:
• the size of the offset site on your property,
• the type and quality of native vegetation, and
• the demand from a proponent who needs an offset that matches the vegetation type on your property.
Funding typically represents the following obligations required to be met by a landowner:
• the loss of development rights associated with the in-perpetuity covenant,
• the cost of land management actions to improve native vegetation quality and,
• the risk and administrative needs to meet the 10-year management commitment period
Trust for Nature can provide further assistance in understanding the offset obligations and appropriate funding requirements once a specific offset request has been received that your property may qualify for.
More information
For more information on the Native Vegetation Offset Program and the process involved, please contact us as outlined below.
Register your interest
The native vegetation offset market is rapidly expanding and Trust for Nature is seeking proponents and landowners to meet this demand. As such, both parties are encouraged to contact Trust for Nature as early as possible to be involved in this opportunity.
If you are a proponent please complete a registration of interest form with your native vegetation requirements.
If you are a landowner please complete a registration of interest form to outline the environmental values of your property.
On completion of the appropriate form email to offsets@tfn.org.au or post to:
Native Vegetation Offsets Team
Trust for Nature
5/379 Collins Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
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What if I do not want my covenant to be available as a Native Vegetation Offset?
Trust for Nature recognises that many landowners enter into conservation covenants to make the greatest contribution they can to biodiversity protection. For some, this may mean securing their covenant in perpetuity so as to increase the conservation estate outside emerging markets for native vegetation and carbon offsets. It is important to the Trust that we honour the intention of landowners making such a significant decision to support biodiversity. If you would like to discuss how emerging markets may affect your intentions for your conservation covenant, and how you may secure the original intentions of your covenant in perpetuity, please feel free to contact one of Trust for Nature’s staff members on (03) 8631 5888.