Investing together to protect our environment (Chapter 7) by DELWP Biodiversity

INVESTING TOGETHER TO PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT

Protecting and sustaining Victoria’s natural environment for the long-term requires vision, financial resources and a collective effort across society. This section discusses new opportunities to realise that vision and to halt almost two centuries of human-induced environmental decline.

RELEVANT GOAL

Zoos Victoria – “Fighting Extinction”

To ensure that Victoria’s natural environment is healthy.

Zoos Victoria works locally and globally to deliver tangible conservation outcomes. It is committed to the recovery of 20 native threatened species through captive breeding and reintroduction, and is also undertaking broad-based conservation programs in six countries, six grass-roots community conservation campaigns and 54 research projects.

One of the keys to protecting our natural capital is to harness collective action across a broad spectrum of society. It is not enough for just government or a few committed individuals to take on the challenge; all over the world, there is an emerging view that a collective effort – spanning the voluntary, philanthropic, political, government and corporate sectors – is required to protect and sustain our natural resources. In Victoria we are embracing this approach, encouraging many sections of society to take a more active role, working together to support the environment from which we all benefit. Fortunately there are already many groups in Victoria that place a high value on nature, and that appreciate the social and economic benefits that flow from protecting our natural capital. Government agencies, private land owners, non-government organisations and thousands of volunteers already invest time, skills and money to improve and maintain Victoria’s biodiversity. But as a society we can – and must – do more. The Victorian Government, in addition to supporting existing efforts, is committed to increasing the overall investment and participation in biodiversity protection and restoration.

Zoos Victoria transfers research and on-ground action into opportunities for people to connect with nature and learn about conservation at world-class zoos that attract local and international tourism. By working with visitors, supporters and conservation partners Zoos Victoria aims to reduce threats facing endangered wildlife and build the reputation of Victoria’s rich biodiversity. As Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit conservation organisation, all revenue raised goes directly towards work to fight extinction. This approach embodies key elements of the draft biodiversity plan, Protecting Victoria’s Environment – Biodiversity 2036.

Boosting our investment to change our environmental trajectory A realistic plan to halt the decline of Victoria’s biodiversity will require significant funding over the long term. A centrepiece of this model could be a new State Government-backed initiative to create significant and sustained investment in biodiversity conservation across Victoria. The model could include a variety of funding mechanisms that together maximise biodiversity conservation, including exploring innovative funding models and the emerging area of government backed Green Bonds, which would generate finance for biodiversity initiatives while providing investors with a government-guaranteed return.

Green Bonds A bond is a financial instrument issued by governments, companies and financial institutions as a means of raising funds. Purchasers of bonds (investors) are paid a fixed interest rate over the life of the loan and their initial investment is returned on maturity of the bond. A ‘green bond’ only differs from a regular bond in that the funds raised are invested in projects that have positive environmental and/or climate benefits (e.g. renewable energy, sustainable buildings and reforestation). The global green bond market is still relatively new but has grown strongly in the past couple of years in line with demand from an emergent pool of investors. In this initial phase, green bonds are often being applied to climate change projects. However, there is scope to explore options for them being used for more biodiversityspecific initiatives.

PRIORITY 9 Establish a sustainable funding model that leverages and aligns all sources of investment to improve Victoria’s natural environment, and including the use of innovative mechanisms such as crowd funding to supplement other funding sources.

RELEVANT OBJECTIVES Halt the overall decline of threatened species and secure the greatest possible number of species in the wild in the face of climate change. Improve the overall extent and condition of native habitats across terrestrial, coastal, marine and freshwater environments.

Supporting more businesses to invest in the environment Businesses in Victoria are becoming more environmentally conscious – not just because they want to do the right thing, but because protecting the environment can benefit their business bottom line too. As described in the previous chapter, there is a growing recognition among private and philanthropic sectors that caring for the natural environment can reduce business risk. Despite this positive trend, many businesses in Victoria remain passive at best when it comes to protecting the environment. This represents a potential lost opportunity – not only for the individual businesses concerned, but also for current and future generations of Victorians. For governments and policy makers, the challenge is to not only reach out to businesses about the potential bottom-line benefits of not degrading the environment but also to highlight the opportunities that come from actively protecting the environment in a competitive marketplace that increasingly demands strong environmental credentials. To this end, we must engage more with private sector leaders and assist the development of investor networks to share information about how businesses can both profit from, and contribute to, a healthier natural environment. Engaging with the private sector will also help us to gauge investor needs – and to design and adjust opportunities accordingly. As a Government, we see great potential to promote coinvestment in the environment sector, partnering with businesses, philanthropists and landholders in projects that align both with Victoria’s environmental priorities and the financial objectives of the businesses involved. The Zoos Victoria AGL Marine Rescue Unit, as seen in the case study over the page, is an example of how this model can work. The Strategic Management Prospects tool (described in more detail in Chapter 8) will be pivotal in identifying conservation priorities that have the greatest potential to deliver the best biodiversity returns on investment. A Regional Biodiversity Investment Prospectus is proposed as a new platform to communicate Victoria’s priorities, where government is already investing to protect biodiversity, and where there are new statewide and regionally-specific conservation project opportunities on which government, business and the wider community can collaborate.

Private investors will be able to choose to partner with landholders, Catchment Management Authorities or other government agencies such as Parks Victoria or Trust for Nature and know they are making a contribution towards Victoria’s environmental aspirations. Investment guidelines that include principles for public-private partnership investments will be developed to ensure public probity standards are met and private sector investments are in the public interest. The guidelines will cover aspects such as accountability, transparency and fairness.

PRIORITY 10 Publish a Regional Biodiversity Investment Prospectus and establish a business community roundtable to effectively communicate key areas in which communities and investors can act to improve biodiversity on public and private land.

CONSULTATION QUESTIONS 16 & 17 What do you think of the idea to assist business and philanthropic sectors in protecting our natural environment? Should we consider any other approaches to this issue?

CASE STUDY

The AGL Marine Rescue Project In 2013 Zoos Victoria received a record number of calls from the public for assistance for injured marine life but resource constraints meant only one in 10 calls could be responded to. The problem required innovative thinking to develop a new funding model. When scoping the partnership, renewable energy company AGL Energy Ltd saw a logical fit between AGL’s brand promise ‘Energy in Action’ and the actionoriented goals of the Marine Response Unit. Other synergies included: • AGL is Australia’s biggest provider of renewable energy, which aligned well with Zoos Victoria’s ambition to be the world’s first carbon neutral zoo; • Both the AGL and Zoos Victoria brands are well known, household names with a long history (AGL was established in 1837 and Melbourne Zoo in 1862); and • Both organisations have a strong focus on families.

From the partnership, AGL has naming rights sponsorship of both the AGL Marine Response Unit and the Wild Sea precinct at Melbourne Zoo. The partnership is promoted across the Zoo, including through: • Branded signage and interpretation throughout the Wild Sea precinct; • Recognition of the AGL partnership in the daily seal show and behind the scenes experiences; and • A video to be played within the Wild Sea precinct highlighting the AGL Marine Response Unit and its achievements. The partnership has seen the issue move from a highprofile problem to a high profile success story through the establishment of the AGL Marine Response Unit.

Making it easier to protect biodiversity and tackle climate change More than two thirds of Victoria, including some of the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most important and irreplaceable remaining vegetation, is privately owned. Some industries such as agriculture already invest in biodiversity, for example through Landcare, maintaining biodiversity on farms programs, and investment in sustainable practices. Victoria also has a strong track-record of innovative market-based approaches to environmental conservation on private land. The BushTender, EcoTender and CoastalTender incentive programs are world-renowned for their cutting-edge approaches to protecting and improving native vegetation, while the native vegetation credit market provides an efficient and effective process for mitigating impacts from the removal of native vegetation. Currently, native vegetation credits are created and traded through the vegetation credit market. Credits are generated when landowners commit to permanently protecting and enhancing native vegetation above minimum land stewardship requirements. Landowners may then sell these credits to others who require offsets to mitigate impacts of native vegetation clearing, or to philanthropic organisations and other investors seeking to invest in biodiversity conservation. The native vegetation credit market has grown and matured since offsetting was first introduced in 2003. Further development of this approach will contribute to greater biodiversity protection, particularly on private land, and provide landowners with alternative approaches to managing their land (see VicSuper and Kilter Rural Future Farming Landscapes project case study in Chapter 6). The Victorian Government proposes to develop a biodiversity conservation credit market to promote potential future interactions with markets for water, carbon and other public benefits that could be traded between producers and beneficiaries. This will clarify the rules and processes for establishing credits and provide clear direction and transparency to market participants and regulators, ensuring that a credit represents a tangible improvement protected in perpetuity. The development of this approach will consider any relevant directions from the review of the native vegetation regulations, in particular improvements to the security and monitoring arrangements for offsets to ensure that expected gains are delivered. It will also examine opportunities to align the current markets for native vegetation, water and carbon trading and consider the legislative underpinnings that may be required to do this.

The Victorian Government has completed an independent review of the Climate Change Act 2010. The review investigated a broad range of issues including carbon sequestration, which has the potential to provide multiple benefits across a range of environmental and economic outcomes. Permanent protection of land for conservation, enabled by agencies such as Trust for Nature (using conservation covenants), makes such a valuable long-term contribution to Victoriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s environment that we need to find ways to increase its use. While conservation on private land is already encouraged through various incentive programs, it can still be difficult to secure permanent protection of biodiversity. We will investigate options to significantly increase the permanent protection of important areas of biodiversity on private land. This will consider the range of incentives available to assist landowners to achieve this, as well as identifying factors (e.g. existing tax systems) that may create disincentives.

PRIORITY 11 & 12 Develop a holistic biodiversity conservation credit market to leverage future interactions with markets for water and carbon and other public benefits that could be traded between producers and beneficiaries. Investigate options for significantly increasing incentives for private land owners to permanently protect important habitat on their land.

RELEVANT OBJECTIVE Improve the overall extent and condition of native habitats across terrestrial, coastal, marine and freshwater environments.

CASE STUDY

Dockers Plains Pastoral Company long-term land protection Settled in 1838, Dockers Plains near Wangaratta in northeast Victoria is one of Australia’s most enduring pastoral holdings. The Lower Ovens River and Reedy Creek which meander through the property support an active floodplain, intact riparian vegetation, healthy native fish community and native flora. Six generations of the Docker family have lived and farmed there for over 170 years, under the abundant River Red Gums which range from seedlings to 400-year-old monarchs. It was the spectre of these ancient trees dying which catalysed the decision by joint owners John and Mary Paul and John Docker to permanently protect the high environmental value areas on their property through a Trust for Nature conservation covenant. Their vision was to develop a sustainable farming enterprise that maintains the property’s environmental and cultural values. Established in 2009 in collaboration with Trust for Nature, the Victorian body with responsibility for enabling conservation on private land, this covenant is now one of more than 1300 covering such properties in Victoria where landowners have voluntarily elected to protect significant habitat on their land in perpetuity. The Dockers Plains Pastoral Company covenant protects almost 17 kilometres of Ovens River frontage which has been fenced to exclude stock, as well as 500 hectares of remnant Riverine Grassy Woodland, 600 hectares of farmland/stream mosaics, and 60 separate wetlands. Supported by funding from the Australian Government, Victorian Government and North East Catchment Management Authority, Dockers Plains Pastoral Company has been able to undertake a series of positive interventions on the protected area to improve river health, wetland health and biodiversity values, including strategic stream bank protection, off-stream stock watering, weed control, replanting of native understorey and establishment of additional areas of native vegetation.

With one third of their property – around 1100 hectares – permanently protected for conservation, Dockers Plains continues to operate as a working property, supporting a herd of about 750 Angus cows, and cropping of wheat, canola, triticale and oats. While the cattle are kept away from highly sensitive ecological areas, they prove useful for strategic weed control under the guidance of a covenant management plan. Monitoring of environmental quality through the Trust’s stewardship program is key to maintaining the qualities of this high value site. Dockers Plains Pastoral Company is also guided by a Whole of Farm Environmental Plan, which includes actions to establish nature corridors connecting the higher country on the property back to the riparian zone and to link the remnant vegetation on the property with remnant roadside vegetation With financial and technical assistance, and the passion of landholders who see themselves as guardians of the landscape for future generations, Dockers Plains has become one of Victoria’s largest conservation covenant properties, ensuring a balance between the needs of a healthy environment and a thriving farming business, and honoring the past while protecting for the future.

CASE STUDY