CANBERRA, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has launched a second method under its national Nature Repair Market, expanding opportunities for landholders to participate in biodiversity conservation and restoration projects.
Minister for the Environment and Water Murray Watt announced on Friday that the new method, known as enhancing native vegetation, would allow landholders to register projects aimed at improving and maintaining existing native vegetation or restoring vegetation in areas where it has been cleared.
The method also enables projects to improve habitats for threatened species and control invasive plants and animals, according to a government statement.
The Nature Repair Market was established to encourage landholders, farmers, Indigenous groups and conservation organisations to invest in activities that restore and protect biodiversity.
Under the market's first method, replanting native forest and woodland ecosystems, four projects have so far been registered, covering a total of 2,656 hectares of land being protected and restored.
The government said the new method would broaden eligibility for participation and allow certain projects to be used for environmental offsets, potentially stimulating demand for biodiversity restoration activities.
"The Nature Repair Market is still in its early stages, but by introducing more methods for use, we're incentivizing and rewarding landholders for protecting and restoring biodiversity on their land, including by controlling invasive species," Watt said.
He added that protecting habitats on private land was essential to improving conservation outcomes for Australia's threatened native species. ■
