Offset site landowners

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If you own land with native vegetation, it could generate you income as a native vegetation offset site. We can help you to understand if your property is eligible, explain what is involved and introduce you to credit buyers.

As an offset site owner, you take on a commitment to actively manage the native vegetation for biodiversity and you agree to protect that land in perpetuity. Under the scheme, your land is assessed for its biodiversity value and how much that biodiversity can be increased with protection and management. That increase or gain is quantified in native vegetation offset credits and made available on the Native Vegetation Offset Register. Those credits are then bought by developers and permit holders to offset the native vegetation they are removing for their project.

Talk to us about how the native vegetation credit trading market works, and how we can help you meet your legal, financial and land management obligations as an offset site landowner.

We offer landowners:

• help to understand if their property is eligible
• free desk-top appraisals of the value of their property as an offset site
• shortlists of accredited assessors
• recommendations for entering the offset market when comparable sites are in demand
• some guidance on price setting for your offset credits
• introductions to credit buyers
• assistance with annual reporting.

If you are thinking of investing in land with the idea of entering the offset market, we can help you to understand the potential of the site, based on its biodiversity value and the current market conditions.

Become an offset site landowner – what’s involved

To become an offset site landowner with credits for sale you will need to:

1. have your property assessed by an accredited assessor
2. commit to a 10 year management plan
3. agree to protect and maintain the site in perpetuity via a permanent on-title legal agreement
4. report on your annual activities and agree to inspections.

In exchange you create an asset – native vegetation offset credits – that can be sold on the offset market and provide you with an income.

Site assessments – understand the value of the site

The first step is to ask an accredited assessor to assess your property for its biodiversity value. The assessor will survey flora and fauna present and:

• work out if your land is eligible
• calculate the types and number of credits it is worth
• develop a management plan for your land, based on its characteristics and existing threats to biodiversity.

Setting a price for your credits

In developing a price for the sale of native vegetation offset credits, you need to take into account various factors, including direct management costs, lost land value or opportunity costs, risks, tax, cash flow and wider market implications. We can provide advice on current market pricing. For help developing a price, read the DEECA Pricing native vegetation credits information sheet (PDF)

Selling your credits

With your land assessed and your agreement signed, your credits are registered with DEECA and publicly searchable on the Native Vegetation Offset Register. Vegetation Link has a documented protocol for the matching of landowners with offset purchasers. We can provide you with a trading agreement that outlines fully our responsibilities and our approach to offset trading.

There are no upfront fees to list your native vegetation offset credits with Vegetation Link. We charge a brokerage fee upon execution of a credit sale.

More information is available on the DEECA website here.

Assistance with Annual Reporting

For landowners who manage multiple offset sites, there can be increased complexity in coordinating management, monitoring, and reporting activities and complying with their offset commitments.

Vegetation Link can offer assistance with:

• coordinating reporting requirements for the offset sites;
• coordinating with and reviewing the reports of consultants engaged for the purposes of third party surveys and monitoring; and
• ensuring compliance with management and monitoring obligations.

Vegetation Link is uniquely placed to provide support to landowners for co-ordination of offset sites. We pride ourselves on

• our understanding of the regulatory system;
• our strong working relationships with both Trust for Nature and DEECA Native Vegetation Management team;
• our understanding of the federal offsetting system and strong working relationships with the DCCEEW;
• our understanding of the on-ground challenges faced by landowners to deliver on their commitments as managers of biodiversity offset sites.

Based in regional Victoria, we are able to bridge the (sometimes) divide between the rural landholder and manager and the inner city bureaucrat; between the offset provider and the developer; between the theory and the practice.

The fees for this service are determined on a site-by-site basis, with the time commitment and thus pricing depending primarily on the complexity of the offset management plan and reporting requirements. The cost also includes a site visit to meet in person, view the property, and talk through expectations and responsibilities. The pricing excludes commissioning or managing of contractors (although we will communicate and coordinate with them) and excludes initial writing of reports.