{"id":7753,"date":"2022-10-26T01:49:46","date_gmt":"2022-10-26T01:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/what-we-do\/biodiversity\/rainforest-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-07-04T22:14:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T22:14:54","slug":"cassowary-credit-scheme","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/what-we-do\/biodiversity\/cassowary-credit-scheme\/","title":{"rendered":"Cassowary Credit Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"[mk_page_section bg_image=”https:\/\/terrain.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/treetopsslider.jpg” bg_position=”center bottom” bg_repeat=”no-repeat” bg_stretch=”true” enable_3d=”true” min_height=”500″ js_vertical_centered=”true” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” section_id=”donate” el_class=”donate-1″ sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”50px”][mk_fancy_title font_family=”none” align=”center”]CASSOWARY CREDIT SCHEME[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”55″][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][mk_page_section el_class=”main_heading_row” sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563857212904{padding-right: 35px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}” el_class=”great_3_left”][mk_padding_divider size=”95″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”20″ visibility=”visible-sm”][mk_padding_divider size=”50″ visibility=”visible-tl”][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” el_class=”terrain-title-2″]NEW BIODIVERSITY CREDIT SCHEME[\/mk_fancy_title][mk_padding_divider size=”55″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][mk_padding_divider size=”20″ visibility=”visible-tl”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1671066362735{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Cassowary Credit Scheme is a new biodiversity market scheme that was developed to increase investment into the Wet Tropics region for habitat restoration.<\/p>\n

It is a mechanism that enables investors such as governments, philanthropists or corporates to pay landholders and land managers to undertake habitat restoration activities.<\/p>\n

The scheme targets land that is unsuitable for agriculture. It is designed to create economic benefits for regional communities, including First Nations people, and to create biodiversity outcomes.<\/p>\n

Background<\/strong><\/p>\n

The unprecedented impacts of climate change, along with other threats like invasive weeds, require immediate action to protect the biodiversity values of the Wet Tropics. Landscape-scale restoration is critical to build ecosystem resilience and restore functional ecological connectivity.<\/p>\n

Some progress has been made but it is limited by small-scale and inconsistent investment that is heavily dependent on Government grant programs, which wax and wane, or small philanthropic donations.<\/p>\n

Technical experts and the conservation community have been calling for diversified, large-scale investment. In an attempt to attract new investment, Terrain undertook a feasibility study to determine whether a market-based scheme could operate as an incentive to landholders and provide an additional mechanism to massively upscale investment in restoration.<\/p>\n

Since the initial feasibility study, we have worked in collaboration with regional partners to design a practical, scientifically robust method to account for the change in condition generated by Cassowary Credit project activities.<\/p>\n

Solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like Carbon Credits and Reef Credits, Cassowary Credits are earned for a measurable improvement \u2013 in this case for vegetation condition.<\/p>\n

A Cassowary Credit is a quantified amount of improvement in rainforest condition, achieved using an approved method that can be measured, verified and converted to credits.<\/p>\n

A cassowary credit is earned through rainforest reinstatement, repair, threat mitigation or enhanced protection. Landholder projects are monitored and payments are based on actual achievements. Investors buy verified improvements and a quantifiable contribution to rainforest habitat improvement. Credits are issued when results are delivered and verified, guaranteeing a credible improvement to the Wet Tropics bioregion.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1563857224215{padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 35px !important;}” el_class=”great_3_right”][mk_padding_divider size=”280″ visibility=”hidden-nb”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1720131288813{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Achievements so far<\/strong><\/p>\n

With a Standard and first Methodology completed, this product is now being pilot tested as it approaches a market launch.<\/p>\n

Location<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Wet Tropics region, Far North Queensland, Australia<\/p>\n

Partners<\/strong><\/p>\n

Terrain NRM is working with private industry, government, scientists, indigenous groups and wildlife experts to design and develop this new ecosystem services market scheme.<\/p>\n

Funders<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Cassowary Credit Scheme project is supported by the Queensland Government’s Land Restoration Fund and World Wildlife Fund.[\/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Q4T84jNRljw&t=16s”][\/vc_column][\/mk_page_section][vc_row][vc_column][mk_fancy_title size=”28″ letter_spacing=”4″ margin_bottom=”0″ font_family=”none” align=”right” el_class=”terrain-title-2″]\n

Frequently Asked Questions<\/p>\n[\/mk_fancy_title][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”faqsec_1″ css=”.vc_custom_1670241110451{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-right: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_accordions][vc_accordion_tab title=”What is a credit?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670298960600{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]One cassowary credit represents one unit of rainforest condition improvement[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”Why ‘cassowary’ credits?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670299159237{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]The cassowary is an iconic umbrella species that is strongly associated with Far North Queensland\u2019s tropical rainforests. The scheme\u2019s focus is habitat restoration across the region\u2019s rainforest ecosystems.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”Who can buy cassowary credits?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670299210303{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Anyone wanting to support sustainable change \u2013 from governments and corporations to philanthropists and individuals. Increasingly, investors are attracted to environmental market schemes for moral or ethical reasons, to align with environmental and social responsibility targets, to respond to customer demand, for marketing opportunities and to support regional environments and communities.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”Who produces cassowary credits?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670299325533{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Landholders and land managers in the Wet Tropics region, who meet all scheme requirements, for example freehold landholders who farm or manage land for conservation or other purposes, local government entities, Protected Area Managers and not-for-profit organisations managing land for conservation.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”What are the benefits for landholders?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670299389256{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Cassowary credits can supplement existing land-based incomes, such as from agriculture or tourism. They\u2019re also an opportunity to improve the condition of land for a range of reasons – from biodiversity and soil health improvements to general aesthetics.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”What does a cassowary credit project look like?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670299458343{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Real change happens when we measure outcomes rather than activities (such as the number of trees planted or the area of land restored). Projects range from rainforest reforestation on cleared or heavily disturbed land to weed control to improve the condition of existing vegetation. Landholders or managers must use an approved methodology for their projects.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”How does it work?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670299510319{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]The scheme rewards cumulative progress towards an end goal. Rather than being paid once a hectare of functional rainforest is produced (which could take many years), the scheme pays according to the rate of condition improvement from the starting baseline. This enables a solid flow of income in the first few years after projects are established, which gradually levels off until the crediting limit of the scheme is reached (25 years). The system aligns with high inputs during site preparation, planting and maintenance requirements in the first few years, and ongoing but reducing maintenance and monitoring.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”Who designed the scheme?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670299564040{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Terrain NRM initiated the concept and coordinated its design with funding from the Queensland Government\u2019s Land Restoration Fund. A working group, with a wide range of science and technical experts, supported the project\u2019s development and delivery including significant contributions to the underlying science and accounting approach. Traditional Owners advised on design and potential benefits to Rainforest Aboriginal communities.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”Who will administer the scheme?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670299605581{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Eco-Markets Australia is Australia\u2019s first independent voluntary environmental markets administrator. Eco-Markets is also administrator of the Reef Credit Scheme, a voluntary environmental market to improve water quality in reef catchments.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”How much potential land is available for the scheme in the Wet Tropics?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670299850465{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]With GIS analysis, 50,000 hectares of land has been identified that is unsuitable for agriculture based on soil type, slope or closeness to watercourses. To avoid competing with other land uses such as agriculture, this less-productive land is the target for Cassowary Credit projects.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”Can they be purchased to offset clearing or damage to vegetation?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670299919069{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]The scheme is designed for nature-positive projects. As such, Cassowary Credits cannot be used to meet conservation and restoration commitments in a compliance market, for example to satisfy legal offset obligations.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”What is ‘risk of reversal’ and how is it applied in this scheme?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670299982007{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Risk of reversal is a mechanism for insuring the Cassowary Credit Scheme against residual risks that can\u2019t be managed by permanence and other arrangements, including temporary losses associated with a disturbance event or long-term losses if a participant fails to deliver expected outcomes. A proposed Risk of Reversal Buffer (RRB) of 5% will be discounted from all projects and held by the Secretariat in an RRB account. Any cassowary credits withheld as part of the RRB will be retained by the Cassowary Credit Scheme Secretariat and used to mitigate future reversals across the Cassowary Credit Scheme.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”How do additionality requirements apply?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670300034897{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]One of the principles of the Cassowary Credit Scheme is that outcomes must be additional. Improvements in rainforest condition arising from a Cassowary Credit project must be changes that wouldn\u2019t have occurred without the project, such as through natural forest regeneration or participation in other environmental markets. Specific guidance is provided to help participants to account for this. Using data from research and restoration projects in the region, as well as expert advice, scenarios have been developed to quantify increases in condition that could have happened if the project hadn\u2019t taken place. This must then be accounted for (i.e. subtracted) in the calculation of credits.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”What does leakage mean and how does this scheme deal with it?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670300163224{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\u2018Leakage\u2019 is a negative impact outside the project area in response to project activities. An example is a grazier with a Cassowary Credit project who clears or degrades vegetation on another part of their property to make more grazing land available. The Cassowary Credit Scheme Restoration Methodology includes a process to avoid leakage.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”What are the permanence requirements?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670300215751{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Permanency is the assurance that native vegetation in the project area will not be cleared. The outcomes of a Cassowary Credit project (e.g. improvement in vegetation condition) must be protected for a period of 25 years to satisfy permanence requirements. The Secretariat uses a compliance and assurance framework to ensure permanence requirements are met, with actions ranging from information and advice to deregistering or suspending projects, or prosecutions for illegal activity.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”Can cassowary credits be stacked with other credits?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670300270064{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]It is possible to stack Cassowary Credits with other credits. Strict guidelines apply to ensure additionality requirements are met. The Cassowary Credit Restoration Methodology outlines the way participants must account for any increase in condition that is likely to happen because of participation in other environmental markets involving restoration of woody vegetation cover.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”How can I be confident in the integrity of the scheme?”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1670300394919{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]A range of processes are in place to ensure the highest integrity principles are incorporated in design and delivery of the Cassowary Credit Scheme. An independent scientific peer review of Cassowary Credit Scheme documents will be undertaken before full market launch. Cassowary Credits will be administered by an independent secretariat who will provide governance and oversight. A secure and transparent registry system will record and track all credit transactions. Eight core principles relate to the generation of credits:<\/p>\n