Ecosystem services
All Queenslanders need confidence that Queensland landscapes are managed, and the outcomes will contribute to the health of ecosystems in state lands as well as on private property.
We believe a Natural Capital approach is required to provide incentives for landowners to preserve and improve the condition of ecosystems and the services they provide.
Solution
Natural Capital assets that provide people with free goods and services - often called ecosystem services.
Figures
Provision of $2 million from the Land Restoration Fund (LRF) to test natural capital condition assessment methods leading to certification and carbon and co-benefit projects.
Background
The existing vegetation management regulatory framework in Queensland is politically motivated and targets a reduction in broadacre tree clearing, but NOT the management of vegetation or ecosystems.
At present, landowners provide ecosystems that benefit society for free, with no financial support.
Vision
Moving to a Natural Capital market-based approach, that rewards landholders for management practices that protect environmental assets, will ensure that everyone benefits from healthy landscapes.
Natural Capital is the world’s stock of natural resources, which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms. Some natural capital assets provide people with free goods and services, often called ecosystem services. Two of these, clean water and fertile soil, underpin our economy and society. They make human life possible.
A functioning marketplace will reduce the need for reliance on a regulatory framework for the management of vegetation.
We are eager to support the Queensland Government in ensuring the LRF is a cornerstone investment in building our Natural Capital and ultimately ecosystem health.
Solution
We support the development of a Natural Capital marketplace which will increase income streams for agriculture through payment for ecosystem services and reduction in risks associated with rural lending.
Carbon contracts under the Federal Climate Solutions Fund (CSF), and now the Queensland LRF, are encouraging developments in the Natural Capital marketplace.
We seek to support the roll-out of the LRF and CSF through engaging members in the development of new methods for measuring Natural Capital Condition and rewarding landowners for improving and preserving healthy landscapes.
Provision of $2 million from the LRF will enable us to test methods that measure Natural Capital condition on properties, provide certification for landowners in different regions and enable them to develop carbon and co-benefit projects.