Biodiversity Stewardship in Newcastle, Hunter Region, Central Coast, Sydney & Western NSW

Creation of Biodiversity Stewardship Site Assessment Reports (BSSARs) and estimates of costs and time frames for establishing a Stewardship Site.

Biodiversity Stewardship is the process in NSW where lands of high conservation value are registered for conservation to offset the impacts of development on existing vegetation and habitat.

The process requires land to be registered under the NSW Biodiversity Offset Scheme by accredited assessors. Assessors determine the ecological value of the land and register the value as credits onto the open market.

These biodiversity credits are purchased to offset the activities of developers impacting negatively on native vegetation. This process takes between 6 to 12 months and is best strategically broken into three major tasks:

• determination of the likely ecosystem credits to be generated on the site based on the ecological communities present and the current market value for these credits.
• surveys completion and assessments of the value of vegetation community credits on the site including management plans to be submitted with the report.
• de Witt Ecology registers these credits for sale on the market.

Biodiversity stewardship can produce excellent outcomes for landholders, such as:

• adding significant financial value from the sale of credits to land while maintaining ownership and usage rights.
• can be designed to not impede on planned agricultural uses whilst conserving natural habitat.
• generate income for land management for 20 years.

Biodiversity stewardship offers the opportunity to conserve biodiversity, while providing considerable resources that can be used by landholders as a buffer in times of financial stress.