Transcript Achieving Biodiversity Conservation in Victoria

Achieving Biodiversity Conservation
in Victoria
Peter Betson
Executive Director, DEPI
OUTLINE
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Biodiversity in Victoria
Victoria’s framework for conserving biodiversity
Recent developments in Victoria
Future policy directions for Victoria
Maintain
biodiversity
Standards,
markets and
rights
Reporting
and accounts
Biodiversity
framework
Investment
Science
Regulations
Communities
Decision systems
Biodiversity framework
Figure shows components of gains and losses in native vegetation
that need to sum to at least zero
Biodiversity framework
Estimation of components of gains and losses in native vegetation quality
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Breakdown of change
– all tenures
Additions to the reserve
system
Unrecorded
management in
conservation reserves
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Voluntary management
and increases in extent
Government incentives
and new covenants
Overall change –
all tenures
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Recorded management
in conservation
reserves
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‘000 HHa/Yr
0
0
No active management
in conservation
reserves
Net loss =
4392 HHa/yr*
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Hatching
indicates figures
based on broad
assumptions
rather than
specific data
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-15
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Entitled land uses and
exemptions
Remotely-sensed
reductions in extent
(illegal clearing)**
+/- 20%
uncertainty
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-15
Data based on: First
Approximation Report,
DSE 2008
Biodiversity framework
• Challenges for strategic planning
– What is the objective?
– How is biodiversity measured across the Landscape?
– What is the role of Government in setting outcomes
and picking-winners?
– How can policy-makers assist in these trade-offs and
bring biodiversity to front-of-line?
Recent developments in Victoria
• How are we responding to the challenges?
• Efficient resource allocation
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Markets (BushTender, BushBroker)
Property Rights (Legislative reform)
MER and Economic-Ecosystem Accounts
• Building our science capacity and modelling
capability
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Arthur Rylah Institute
NaturePrint and NVIM
Recent developments in Victoria
• How are we responding to the challenges?
• Regulatory
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Melbourne Strategy Assessment
Native Vegetation Regulation Reform
• Investment
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Victorian Environmental Partnerships Program
Landcare
LBP Advisory Group
• Communities
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Supporting partnerships to share impacts and benefits
Information up-front to invest, avoid, minimise and offset
Regulatory reforms - MSA
• Strategic Assessment under the Commonwealth
EPBC Act 1999
• Large geographic scale (UGB), rather than site by site
assessments.
• Targets, actions and recovery of efficient costs.
• Incentivises better regulatory practice
• Actions involve the creation of conservation reserves
and the payment of offset fees
• Meets Commonwealth and State requirements
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Regulatory reforms - MSA
• MSA, BCS and sub-regional species strategies:
• 15,000 ha grassland reserve and 1200 ha grassy
woodland reserve in Program report
• 36 conservation reserves within the UGB (approx.
5700 ha)
• 1600 ha (approx.) of new reserves to be found
outside UGB across rural Victoria
= In future no further reserves required inside UGB
= All conservation measures funded through costrecovery and recouped through development process
Extent of the Melbourne Strategic Assessment
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Regulatory reforms - NV
• Four priority reforms:
– Clarify the objective of the native vegetation permitted clearing
regulations
– Improve how biodiversity value is measured and defined
– Incorporate risk and proportionality in decision making
– Ensure offsets provide appropriate compensation to the
environment.
• Five supporting reforms:
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Clarify roles and responsibilities of state and local government
Better regulatory performance
Improve offset market functionality
New approaches to compliance and enforcement
Continuous improvement.
Regulatory Reforms - NV
Regulatory reforms - NV
Risk-based
pathway
Regulatory reforms - NV
Regulatory reforms – key lessons
• Outcome-based performance
standards for biodiversity
• Up-front information, certainty and
substitutability supports efficient
resource allocation decisions
• Better community acceptance when
clear about importance and are
proportionate
• Reduces community costs (direct
and opportunity)
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Biodiversity investment
• Victorian Environmental
Partnerships Program (VEPP)
• $16m for native vegetation and
threatened species (2013 -15)
• A new approach to environmental
investment and ecosystem
accounting.
• spatial data-sets consistent across all
interventions and catchments
• maximise return-on-investment
• monitoring and reporting
Biodiversity investment
• Landcare
– Total program investment of $7.4m (2013-14).
– Program supports 780 Landcare groups, 67 Landcare
networks, and approx. 60,000 members and 45,000
additional volunteers across Victoria.
• Volunteer contribution is significant, costeffective and important for communities
Demonstrating change
National
Accounts,
Census
Households, Businesses,
Sectors, Jurisdictions,
Government bodies, etc.
Land Accounts
Basic Spatial Units,
Parcels, Statistical Areas
Ecosystem
Accounts
Assets, Ecosystems,
Bioregions, Catchments,
etc.
Economic-ecosystem accounting
Future directions for Victoria
• Environmental Partnerships
• EPBC Act accreditation
• LBP Advisory Group as a model for a
collaborative approach to targeting threatened
species priorities and management
• Threatened Species Roadmap
• Economic-ecosystem accounting
• Risk based environmental regulation