Deadline: 3-Mar-22
The Australian Government is pleased to announce a call for applications for the Carbon + Biodiversity Pilot (C+B Pilot) to trial market arrangements for farmers to create new income from plantings that deliver biodiversity improvements and carbon abatement.
Through the C+B Pilot, they are testing the concept of buying and selling biodiversity services from farmers. Farmers can gain multiple benefits and diversify their income by completing a C+B project.
The C+B Pilot has been designed and delivered in partnership with the Australian National University and Natural Resource Management organisations in each trial region.
How it works?
- Farmers who participate in the C+B Pilot are offering to deliver long-term biodiversity improvement (a plantings project) in conjunction with an ERF environmental plantings project.
- To complete a C+B project farmers must undertake a new Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) environmental plantings project to plant native trees and shrubs in line with ERF requirements as well as the C+B Pilot planting protocols.:
- the ERF Environmental Plantings method involves the planting or direct seeding of native tree and shrub species on land that has been clear of forest for more than 5 years. The purpose of these plantings is to store carbon.
- the C+B planting protocols set out rules about the location, dimensions, configuration and composition of plantings to ensure projects generate biodiversity benefits.
- Farmers must maintain C+B projects for 25 years.
Funding Information
There are two grants available under C+B Round 2. Successful farmers will be offered:
- Professional advice payment: This small grant associated with the participation agreement will be provided to all successful participants to offset the costs of seeking professional advice as appropriate to their circumstances (e.g. legal, financial, carbon and/or agronomical service). This helps them consider the offer to proceed with their C+B project. All applicants that are made an offer will be able to receive an amount up to $10,000. Participants will be required to provide information about the professional advice they have sought to receive the payment and to help us learn about how the pilot worked.
- Biodiversity payment: The biodiversity payment offer is made by the Australian Government to participating farmers for their delivery of long-term biodiversity improvements through a C+B project.
Regions
Round 2 is open to applicants from six eligible Natural Resource Management (NRM) regions. Please select your region from the list below for further information.
- Fitzroy Basin in Queensland
- Riverina in New South Wales
- Goulburn Broken in Victoria
- Southern in Tasmania
- Northern and Yorke in South Australia
- South Coast in Western Australia
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible:
- your land must be predominantly used for agricultural purposes
- you must be the owner, leaseholder or exclusive native title holder of the land
- your project must be contained entirely within one of the six NRM regions noted
- your project area must be between 5 and 200 hectares in total
- you must be able to undertake and register a new environmental plantings method project under the ERF.
- You must meet the participant obligations under the ERF as outlined on the CER’s website
- you must commit to protect and look after your C+B Project for at least 25 years once established.
- You must act with the utmost good faith in your engagements with the pilot.
For more information, visit https://www.awe.gov.au/agriculture-land/farm-food-drought/natural-resources/landcare/sustaining-future-australian-farming/carbon-biodiversity-pilot