Policy and institutions · Australia

Australia adds a second Nature Repair Market method as registered biodiversity projects reach four

Australia's Clean Energy Regulator announced on 30 October 2026 a second method under the Nature Repair Market, covering the enhancement and maintenance of native vegetation.

Two projects were registered in October, on 2 and 9 October, taking the Biodiversity Market Register to four projects, all in New South Wales.

No biodiversity certificate has yet been issued, and both October projects plan to run alongside ACCU plantings on the same land.

30 Oct 2026Policy and institutionsAustraliaPublished 12 Nov 2026
Sydney central business district skyline at dawn, seen from the airport
Sydney central business district skyline at dawn, seen from the airport. Photo: Karora, Public domain, source. Resized only; no other change.
Report

What happened

The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) announced on 30 October 2026 that the enhancing native vegetation method is available. The legal instrument, the Nature Repair (Enhancing Native Vegetation) Methodology Determination 2026, was made on 27 October and registered on the Federal Register of Legislation on 29 October. A companion instrument, the Nature Repair Amendment (Environmental Offsets and Other Measures) Rules 2026, was made and registered on the same days.

The new method is the second under the scheme. It covers projects that restore, enhance or maintain native forests, woodlands, shrublands and grasslands, through activities such as planting, assisted regeneration and control of pests, weeds and grazing. Every project must measure the condition of the ecosystem and how securely the site is protected, and may also assess outcomes for threatened species and culturally significant entities. Projects can be voluntary, or can apply to be registered as offset-capable; the CER notes that this status does not guarantee use as an environmental offset.

Earlier in the month the CER registered the third and fourth projects. The Nortongong Biodiversity Restoration Project near Coonamble, registered on 2 October, plans to replant 968 hectares. Silva Capital Cooplacurripa Biodiversity Project No. 2 in north-east New South Wales, registered on 9 October, covers 1,230 hectares. Both use the first method, Replanting Native Forest and Woodland Ecosystems, and both proponents intend to stack the project with ACCU Scheme plantings under the Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings method.

The register lists four projects in total, registered on 12 August 2025, 27 May 2026, 2 October 2026 and 9 October 2026. All four show the certificate status as not issued.

Context

Background

The Nature Repair Market rests on the Nature Repair Act 2023. Unlike the carbon scheme, it issues one digital biodiversity certificate per project rather than one unit per tonne. Certificates can be held, sold or deposited with the CER and are cancelled at the end of the project's permanence period.

The carbon scheme alongside it is much larger and older. The Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act received assent on 15 September 2011, and the ACCU Scheme issues one unit per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent stored or avoided. It registered 416 projects in 2024 and 407 in 2025. The CER presents stacking, where one area of land carries both a biodiversity project and a carbon project, as a way to support project viability, provided each project meets its own scheme's rules.

The Safeguard Mechanism creates compliance demand for ACCUs. The CER lists use of a biodiversity certificate as an environmental offset under Commonwealth, state or territory legislation, for relevant methods, as one possible source of demand, alongside disclosure-driven, philanthropic and carbon-market buyers.

Data

How it compares

Australia's two land-based schemes and comparable offset systems

Source: Clean Energy Regulator; Federal Register of Legislation; Ministry of Power / Bureau of Energy Efficiency; Ministry of Power; J-Credit Scheme Secretariat. Checked 2026-11-12. Nature Repair figures are from the CER Biodiversity Market Register as read on 12 November 2026.

Table of the same figures
SchemeUnitScale
Australia ACCU Scheme (2011 Act)1 ACCU per tCO2e407 projects registered in 2025
Australia Nature Repair Market (2023 Act)1 biodiversity certificate per project4 projects registered; 2 methods; no certificates issued
India CCTS offset mechanism1 credit per tCO2e9 approved methodologies
Japan J-CreditNot recorded in the data book1,497 registered projects
Ahead

What is next

No further dates are set in the official texts we checked.

Record

Sources

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