March 28, 2019
A new Federal Government program could see farmers receive incentives for improving farm biodiversity.
On Tuesday, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said a $30 million pilot Agriculture Biodiversity Stewardship Program would mean farmers would receive incentives for projects that boosted biodiversity and, if appropriate, absorbed carbon.
Projects such as maintaining or enhancing remnant forest, regeneration of gullies or waterways, or mixed species native tree plantings were examples of projects that could attract funding.
In addition, $4 million would go towards creating a national and internationally recognised biodiversity certification scheme to help farmers get an extra premium for their product when they traded with other countries.
The National Farmers Federation would help develop the certification scheme.
“I’ve always thought farmers should see the benefits of managing the biodiversity on their properties, and a market-based system can become a drought-proof income stream for them,” Mr Littleproud said.
“These programs will be trialled across different commodities and in different regions and if successful, I hope it will be expanded as national policy following the trial.
“An on-farm biodiversity policy and methodology will need to be developed and we’ll be consulting with Australian National University and farm groups on this.”
Mr Littleproud said farmers were already making money from carbon payments, and in future they could potentially receive payment for both biodiversity and carbon benefits from the same project.
“This pilot program is not part of the Climate Solutions Fund – this is a dedicated trial aimed at biodiversity, although of course projects will likely have a carbon benefit which farmers also deserve recognition for.
“Farmers should be rewarded for having plants and animals on their farm, not penalised through banning them using that land and offering no compensation.”
Mr Littleproud said farmers were running a business, and the scheme recognised this.
“In many cases an incentive system such as this will both boost production – cattle and sheep put on more meat when they have good shelter which bush or shelter belts provide – plus the financial incentive as well.
“Given almost 300 projects involving revegetation have been approved through the Emissions Reduction Fund, many landholders already believe they can make comparable returns from carbon payments to what they would running livestock, depending on circumstance and region.
“A biodiversity certification scheme will also give farmers motivation and reward for looking after nature on their properties.
Mr Littleproud said the scheme was also backed by global trends.
“On my recent trip to the EU Agriculture Ministers’ Conference, I saw how serious the rest of the world is about farmers looking after biodiversity,” he said.
“This is the way the world is headed.”
“If Australia is to continue to be a world leader and maintain its key selling point overseas – our clean green reputation – then we need to be thinking ahead of the game and these schemes are part of that picture.”
