The Growth Centres Biodiversity Offset Scheme
The Growth Centres Biodiversity Offset Scheme aims to protect some of the best remaining bushland in Western Sydney for current and future generations.
The Scheme is achieving this by buying land for new reserves and funding agreements with landowners to permanently conserve their land. This land is being protected by the NSW Government to offset the impacts on biodiversity that will be caused by the development of the North West and South West Growth Centres.
The NSW Government has established a $530 million Growth Centres conservation fund to protect areas of biodiversity value. Over the next 50 years, this funding will come from a special infrastructure contribution that applies within the Growth Centres, as well as from general government revenue. Three quarters of the conservation fund ($397.5 million with indexing) is used to implement the Growth Centres Biodiversity Offset Scheme.
What's been achieved
Since its introduction in 2008, the Growth Centres Biodiversity Offset Scheme has permanently protected 855 hectares of land at 23 locations in Western Sydney.
These sites protect threatened plant communities, including critically endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland and provide valuable habitat for threatened animal species.
How the Scheme works
The Scheme delivers offsets for the NSW Government under three agreements:
- Biodiversity Certification of State Environmental Planning Policy (Sydney Region Growth Centres) (2006)
- Strategic assessment approval of the Western Sydney Growth Centres (2012)
- Mulgoa biobank site funding agreement with the Australian Government (2013)
In accordance with the biodiversity certification, the Scheme receives funding annually at the same rate at which development is expected to occur in the Growth Centres. As at June 2023, the Scheme has received $85,833,194 over 14 years, amounting to 30% of total funding. The Scheme has also been supported by grants of additional funding from the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) and the Australian Government.
The Scheme spends the funds, as a first preference, within priority areas that contain the largest remaining areas of high conservation value bushland on the Cumberland Plain. If it’s not possible to create a reserve, the Scheme will protect the land by entering into biodiversity stewardship agreements (previously known as biobanking agreements) with existing landowners.
The first priority (P1) areas for this scheme are shown on the map below (PDF map also available here). Please contact the BCT if you are unsure of your property position relative to P1 areas.
Biodiversity stewardship agreements
Biodiversity stewardship agreements are a type of permanent Conservation Agreement in which funding for site management is invested in an endowment fund (the Biodiversity Stewardship Payments Fund). The Fund provides ongoing annual payments to the land owner, allowing the ongoing management of the bushland. Find out more