In the Australian Capital Territory, environmental offsets establish protected areas, compensate for the unavoidable, significant impacts on matters of national environmental significance (MNES; under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act)) or 'protected matters' (under the Planning and Development Act 2007) from development, and support research and monitoring projects. Environmental offsets may also have the added benefit of protecting other natural and cultural values including locally threatened species and indigenous and historic heritage values.
MNES values within the ACT that are currently protected in land offsets include:
- White Box – Yellow Box – Blakely's Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grasslands (Box-Gum Grassy Woodland)
- Natural Temperate Grassland (of the South Eastern Highlands)
- Golden Sun Moth (Synemon plana)
- Striped Legless Lizard (Delma impar)
- Pink-tailed Worm-lizard (Aprasia parapulchella)
- Superb Parrot (Polyteli swainsonii)
- Regent Honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia)
You can read more about each offset through the strategic assessments or individual projects pages.
A fundamental concept within environmental offsets is that of the mitigation hierarchy. One of the primary objectives of the Commonwealth and ACT environmental offsets policies is to ensure that the destruction of areas of high conservation value is avoided, or avoided and mitigated. Offsets are the final step in the mitigation hierarchy and aim to compensate for any residual impact after all avoidance and mitigation measures have been taken.
Environmental offsets can either be direct, indirect or advanced, each outlined in detail within the EPBC Act Environmental Offsets Policy 2012.
- Direct offsets are those actions that provide a measurable conservation gain for an impacted protected matter. Under both the EPBC Offsets Policy and the ACT Environmental Offsets Policy, at least 90% of the offset requirement must be met through direct offsets.
- Indirect offsets (also known as "other compensatory measures") are those actions that do not directly offset the impacts on the protected matter, but are anticipated to lead to benefits for the impacted protected matter, for example funding for research or educational programs.
- Advanced environmental offsets are a supply of offsets for potential future use, transfer or sale. An example of an advanced offset is protection or improvement of habitat for the conservation of a protected matter before an impact is undertaken.
The ACT Parks and Conservation Service (PCS) is the primary land manager of offset sites within the ACT, managing 1850+ hectares of these offsets on behalf of the ACT Government. Most of these sites are zoned as nature reserves and protected under the Nature Conservation Act 2014.
Management of environmental offsets within the ACT is informed by an adaptive management framework that incorporates detailed planning, monitoring and research. The adaptive management framework forms the basis from which decisions on offset management can be made to ensure compliance with commitments under the relevant legislation. It informs the planning and investment of offset site management through a process of monitoring, evaluation, and review.
Management of offsets involves a range of activities including the management of weeds and invasive plants, management of invasive and over-abundant animals, utilisation of conservation grazing techniques, creation of small-scale infrastructure such as tracks, trails and fencing, and signage to help protect values by informing the public of the importance of the values and the threats they face. Restoration activities and research projects also form an important part of offset management.
The management and monitoring of offset areas also involves collaboration with organisations and community groups such as the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust, ParkCare groups, rural lessees, private businesses, universities, research groups, and Friends of the Grasslands.