Developer dollars not enough to save species

Date:
July 10, 2023
Source:
University of Queensland
Summary:
Financial payments made by land developers to offset their impacts
on threatened species may fall short, according to new research.


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FULL STORY ========================================================================== Financial payments made by land developers to offset their impacts
on threatened species may fall short, according to University of
Queensland-led research.

Professor Jonathan Rhodes from the School of the Environment focused on
koala populations in the fast-developing South East Queensland region and
a government scheme which allows developers to make financial payments
to compensate for environmental consequences.

"Just like when you make a financial contribution to offset your carbon emissions when purchasing a flight, developers can make a financial
payment to the Queensland Government to offset their impacts on koala
habitat," Professor Rhodes said.

"These payments are then used to plant trees to restore koala habitat
in offset sites elsewhere.

"But we found that when suitable places to restore koala habitat are
difficult to find, the financial payments required under the Queensland Environmental Offset Policy are often insufficient to achieve its intended outcomes and this is a major problem.

"In the South East Queensland region, only 0.7 of 13.4 hectares of
impacts on koala habitat offset through financial payments since 2018
so far have offset sites in place and this is concerning for the future
of this beloved, endangered species.

"Unfortunately, land supply can make suitable offset sites hard to find
and this pushes up the cost of delivering habitat restoration and securing those sites in the long-term can fail to guarantee sufficient gains in
habitat to counterbalance losses." Professor Rhodes said funding from developer payments may be insufficient to buy enough offset sites for
habitat restoration.

"South East Queensland is the most densely human-populated area in the
state, growing from 2.4 million people in 2001 to 3.5 million people in
2016, with 5.3 million people expected by 2041," Professor Rhodes said.

"It is also home to an enormous number of threatened species, including
some of the most significant koala populations in Australia which have
declined 50 to 80 per cent over the past two decades.

"This problem will become worse as the region expands and competition for
land for development intensifies, making offset sites either impossible
to find or more expensive to secure." The study mapped and modelled development in eight Local Government Areas (LGAs) within the South
East Queensland Planning Region, applying ecological data and projecting anticipated development and offset outcomes.

While the researchers propose some solutions, they also call for
consideration of immediate changes to the current offset policy.

"On one hand, financial payments by developers can provide flexibility
for the State Government to deliver the most effective offsets to help threatened species such as koalas, but on the other hand, it's essential
that developers pay the true cost of those offsets," Professor Rhodes
said.

"Otherwise, offsets will fall short of compensating for habitat losses
and species will continue to decline or taxpayers via the State Government
will have to make up the shortfall in developer contributions."
* RELATED_TOPICS
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# Endangered_Animals # Nature # Wild_Animals
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# Environmental_Policy # Exotic_Species # Biodiversity
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* RELATED_TERMS
o Conservation_status o Environmental_impact_assessment
o Endangered_species o Biodiversity_hotspot o
Environmental_effects_of_fishing o Honeybee o Tuatara o
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Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Queensland. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jonathan R. Rhodes, Yan Liu, Agung Wahyudi, Martine Maron, Md Sayed
Iftekhar, Shantala Brisbane. Performance of habitat offsets
for species conservation in dynamic human‐modified
landscapes. People and Nature, 2023; DOI: 10.1002/pan3.10494 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230710113854.htm

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