Landholders across NSW have secured the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) as a buyer for another 6,047 biodiversity credits to the value of $27.6 million in total.
The commitment to purchase credits was made through the BCT's biodiversity credit tender and will provide funding for new and existing permanent conservation areas.
Biodiversity Offsets Program Manager Sam Luccitti said the BCT's last tender was its most successful to date, with landholders seeking to sell 66,328 biodiversity credits, of which the BCT is buying more than 6,000.
"Of all the bids received, more than half were from landholders still working to finalise their stewardship agreements, which we're taking as a great sign of increasing interest in the biodiversity credit market.
"$11 million will purchase proposed credits to support new landholders to establish their stewardship sites.
"Purchases in this tender have also enabled two stewardship sites to start active management. This means they will receive ongoing annual conservation management payments, subject to annual reporting and monitoring", Mr Luccitti said.
Including the outcomes from this tender, the BCT has now secured 70 percent of all the credits transferred by developers into the Biodiversity Conservation Fund.
Full details of the credit tender, including a breakdown of the types of credits committed for purchase and prices, is available to download here.
What is a biodiversity credit tender?
Developers in NSW have the option to pay into the Biodiversity Conservation Fund to offset, or compensate for, the environmental impacts of their projects. The NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust is then responsible for securing the offset.
A biodiversity credit tender is one method the BCT uses to find and purchase biodiversity credits. In a credit tender, owners of biodiversity credits, including Biodiversity Stewardship Agreement-holders, submit a bid price to sell their credits to the BCT.
The BCT considers the bids through a competitive, reverse auction process to purchase value-for-money credits.
The next biodiversity credit tender opens for bids on 2 April until 16 April.
The credits the BCT wants to buy in this new tender are listed online, at bct.nsw.gov.au/credit-offer-portal