Enhancing Remnant Vegetation Pilot
The Agriculture Stewardship Enhancing Remnant Vegetation Pilot is a trialled mechanism to pay farmers for improving biodiversity on farms. The Enhancing Remnant Vegetation Pilot was part of the wider $66.1 million Agriculture Stewardship Package, an Australian Government commitment to improve biodiversity stewardship on farms.
Focus
Focus
Opportunities for carbon farming and biodiversity stewardship are increasingly available to land managers to support revenue diversification and increase land productivity. NRM North was selected as one of six Australian regions to test the Enhancing Remnant Vegetation (ERV) Pilot, which paid farmers to protect and enhance remnant vegetation areas on-farm. Selected farmers committed to a minimum 10-year period, during which time they will receive ongoing payments and incentives to undertake infill planting, weed and pest management, and fencing works for enhanced grazing control at selected areas.
Core Elements
Core Elements
The Enhancing Remnant Vegetation Pilot had 5 core elements:
- Participation - The Pilot provided incentives for farmers to manage remnant native vegetation on their properties and was run in the six Agriculture Stewardship Pilot Natural Resource Management regions (which includes the NRM North region).
- Active management- Participating farmers are required to actively manage the vegetation over and above existing legal requirements, including through activities such as installing fencing, managing weeds and pest animals, and a degree of replanting. They may have also undertaken a degree of revegetation in adjoining or nearby areas where it supported improved biodiversity outcomes.
- Long term biodiversity outcomes - Farmers involved in the program entered into contractual agreements with the Australian Government to protect and manage specific areas of remnant native vegetation.
- Monitoring and reporting - In addition to the management activities, farmers are required to assist in monitoring and reporting on the condition of the vegetation for biodiversity in the protected area.
- Upfront plus ongoing payments - Farmers will receive regular payments to account for project costs, based on a pricing model developed by ANU. Details of this model were detailed in the pilot guidelines.
Achievements
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Under the pilot, farmers who improve and manage native vegetation using the stipulated protocol will receive payments for biodiversity outcomes.
Applications
Applications
The northern Tasmanian NRM region has been selected as one of six Australian regions to test the Enhanced Remnant Vegetation Pilot.
Under the pilot, farmers who improve existing native vegetation – in line with management protocols developed by the Australian National University (ANU) – will receive payments for biodiversity outcomes.
Farmers could receive payments to manage and enhance remnant native vegetation on-farm. Examples may include:
- enhanced grazing control;
- enhanced weed control;
- enhanced pest control;
- infill plantings; and
- revegetation.
These plantings can also benefit farmers by providing shelter for livestock, improving soil moisture and reducing erosion.
Watch this film for more information.
Applications are now closed.
Funding
This project was funded by the Australian Government.
