Protecting landscape & connecting habitat in partnership with Traditional Custodians
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Protecting landscape & connecting habitat in partnership with Traditional Custodians
Protecting landscape & connecting habitat in partnership with Traditional Custodians
This project is located on 200 hectares of landscape in Meningie, South Australia and is supplied with native plants from the local nursery at Raukkan, a self-governed Aboriginal community 30 km northwest of the site. A home to the short-beaked echidna, purple- gaped honeyeater and elegant parrot who all live amongst this coastal shrubland and saline swampland ecosystem, it is a rare pocket of intact native vegetation in a region now dominated by farmlands. Many Raukkan community members are also employed for onsite work and delivering activities such as vegetation monitoring, mapping and fencing with a focus on ensuring these communities can continue to preserve and protect this culturally important pocket of land.
The Coorong Lakes project protects and restores the native landscape of the South Australian Coorong region, in partnership with the traditional owners, to produce biodiversity credits.
For this project, one biodiveristy credit represents one square metre of vulnerable land protected and/or restored.These units are distinct from carbon credits which require a direct, measurable impact on carbon avoidance or sequestration. While the activities undertaken to develop biodiversity units (i.e. restoring and protecting natural landscapes) may assist in carbon sequestration (or avoid emissions as as result of land clearing), their success is measured by the number of square metres of land protected, rather than tonnes of CO2 removed from the atmosphere (1 tonne of CO2 avoided/ removed = 1 carbon credit). At Trace, we see immense value in investing in biodiversity unit projects alongside carbon credit projects as they both play a critical role in ensuring the natural balance of the ecosystem is maintained. However, as only carbon credits directly offset carbon emissions, we first ensure our customers’ emissions are offset with carbon credits and then ‘staple’ biodiversity units to these projects - essentially providing a ‘two-for-one positive’ impact - allowing organisations to compensate for greenhouse gas emissions while contributing to the regeneration and preservation of vulnerable ecosystems.
This biodiveristy project is 'stapled' to carbon credits from the Tamil Nadu Wind project in India, which is certified under the UN's Clean Development Mechanism —you can learn more about the project here.
Part of South Australia’s Limestone Coast, this region features some of the country’s most breathtaking landscapes. It is, however, an area at risk and in recent years land surrounding these national treasures has been cleared for agriculture and is under increasing threat of degradation.
The image below shows the stark contrast between the protected area (left) and the remaining agricultural land (right).
Amongst the primary objectives for this project are landscape protection, habitat connectivity, community initiatives, and sustainable livelihoods.
Over 30 species of canopy, sub canopy and ground layer vegetation have formed part of the planting plan, including native species such as Acacia, Hakia and Olearia.
"We seek to embed the aspirations of the Indigenous People into the management of the land. We’re trying to develop a pathway by which we can transition ownership to the traditional owners over time." - Paul Dettman, Cassinia CEO
This project has been developed in line with the standards set out by the South Australian Biodiversity Scheme (SEB) and verified via the Native Vegetation Credit Register.
Established in 2004, Cassinia Environmental is an Australian leader in landscape restoration, regenerative agriculture and biodiversity protection. They develop and deliver projects that protect, restore, reconnect, integrate and embed Australia’s natural systems creating landscapes which are both agriculturally productive and ecologically resilient.
Find out more about Cassinia's work.
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