GCI seminar: Offsetting for marine environments

Event Details

Date:

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

Time:

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Room:

Level 2, Room 275

Location:

Global Change Institute Building (20)

URL:

Event category(s):

Full Description:: Offsetting has emerged as an important tool for minimising environmental impacts while allowing development to occur. Offsetting policies allow unavoidable losses of biodiversity attributed to development to be offset by protecting or rehabilitating an equal or greater quantity of that same biodiversity elsewhere. The new Commonwealth Environmental Offsets Policy was developed with land environments in mind – like black cockatoos or listed terrestrial habitats. Despite this, it applies equally to marine habitats, with one of the first applications of the policy used to guide the expansion of the Abbot Point coal terminal expansion in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area. Fundamental differences in aquatic and terrestrial biophysical environments suggest that offset strategies in the ocean require a different approach to those on land. This presentation will discuss the challenges and opportunities related to offsetting in marine environments.