The Biodiversity Offsets Community of Practice was established in 2021 and is part of the Ecology Special Interest Section (SIS). The immediate focus will be on engaging with New South Wales government agencies, but it’s anticipated the community of practice will expand over time to include other jurisdictions.

Vision

To maintain and improve standards regarding biodiversity offsets schemes by working collaboratively with policy makers to ensure that these schemes deliver practicable and robust outcomes.

Mission

Establish a group of highly qualified ecological professionals to enhance and elevate the role of biodiversity offsets as an effective tool for managing impacts from development on biodiversity values.

Aims

The Biodiversity Offsets Community of Practice aims to:

• Work collaboratively with government agencies that administer biodiversity offsets to provide feedback on the real-world application of the schemes and facilitate improvements
• Advocate for biodiversity offsets that facilitate outcomes for biodiversity values in a practical manner
• Facilitate the exchange of ideas and information on biodiversity offset schemes
• Determine opportunities for improving the biodiversity offset schemes
• Inform community leaders and decision-makers.

Membership

Members are currently experienced NSW BOS accredited assessors or someone who brings specific useful knowledge to the group. It is expected that the membership base will expand over time to other jurisdictions and the group will collaborate with other parts of the EIANZ where appropriate (in particular the Ecology SIS).

Contact

If you are interested in being a part of this community of practice or would like to learn more, please contact Dr Steven Ward or Kelly Matthews (Ecology SIS Chair).