Biodiversity offset scheme 'an enormous thing' for landowners to consider

It took Peter Barton four years of deliberation to sign over one-fifth of his Western NSW property to conservation.

What clinched his decision was something that initially had made him hesitate — the land must be maintained in its natural condition forever. 

Mr Barton's 480-hectare property in Wellington, north-west of Mudgee, is one of those purchased by the NSW government to offset environmental damage caused by construction within the Central West Orana renewable energy zone (REZ).

"That land cannot be used for houses, for mining, for renewables, for agriculture, for anything," Mr Barton said.

"It's an enormous thing to think about."

Paid to protect

Mr Barton's property sits within the Central West Orana REZ, the first of five zones the NSW government is building to connect wind and solar to the state's electricity grid.

The sheep grazier has lamented the "industrialisation" of his region, pointing to the wind turbines visible from his property with blade tips reaching 250 metres high.

"It's destroyed that land as far as I'm concerned," he said.

"If it was me who put those turbines up, I'd have to move away and never go back because if I did it, it would break my heart."

Under a new biodiversity strategy launched a year ago, the NSW government set aside $140 million to secure properties in the same ecological region as the Central West Orana REZ.

They are being purchased to offset the 1,200 hectares impacted by the 240 kilometres of new transmission lines it is building.

An ecological assessment found Mr Barton's property contained endangered plant communities like the small purple-pea and was an ideal habitat for threatened animal species, including the critically endangered regent honeyeater.

Under the biosecurity stewardship agreement, Mr Barton said there was a "significant amount" of land management involved, which was supported with annual payments to tackle weeds and pests.

"The pigs, the deer, rabbits, any wild goats if they come back, will be all well controlled," he said.

"I'm hoping before I die that the regent honeyeater will come back."

New strategy after offset concerns

The NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said it had reached agreements for around 6,000 hectares, with another 8,000 hectares in "advanced negotiations".

"Instead of taking a piecemeal approach, we're protecting and restoring habitat at a much larger scale," NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said.

"That means bigger and better-connected habitats for threatened species."

The protected land includes native vegetation and woodland communities, as well as habitats for endangered species like the eastern pygmy possum, large-eared pied bat and masked owl.

Previously, biodiversity offsets offered by the government did not have to come from any specific region.

In 2022, the NSW Auditor-General raised serious concerns about the NSW Biodiversity Offsets Scheme's "integrity, transparency, and sustainability" in a lengthy report that questioned if the scheme was even effective.

At the time, the Nature Conservation Council (NCC) said the scheme was a "failure by almost every measure", and offsets were being "handed out like lollies" instead of used as a "tool of last resort".

The NCC has welcomed the new region-specific approach as a "long called for" move, with the $140 million a "substantial commitment" compared to other biodiversity programs.

"[Almost all of the] funding will flow to landholders in the region to compensate them for protecting parts of their land that have important habitat on it, and also to help them to do restoration work on that land," NCC policy director Brad Smith said.

Nature for the next generation 

The irony of being paid to protect and restore nature so that environmental destruction could continue elsewhere was not lost on Mr Barton.

"This system they're developing is not perfect, but it's a start," he said.

"Developers are kicking and screaming about it because it's the first time that they've got to pay for the destruction of the ecosystem.

"But one day our grandchildren and our great-great-grandchildren will have something left. It won't be as much as what we've had, but at least it won't all have disappeared."