Natural capital in NSW

Natural capital is about putting

a financial value on our natural assets
that we have on farm.

But it's also financially rewarding
farmers for the good environmental work

that they're doing on their farm,
because that has a benefit

not only to the individual farmer,
but also to the broader community

in protecting our natural assets,
our waterways, our threatened species.

So natural capital is all about ways
and different market mechanisms

that financially reward farmers
for their good environmental work.

So looking after
your natural assets on farm

absolutely has a production
and a resilience benefit.

So in a changing climate, variable rainfall

and we've had fires and floods
particularly in this part of the world.

If you can have as much resilience
in your ecosystem as possible to try

and buffer some of those constraints,
that's a huge benefit for farmers

as well as producing healthy food.

Governments are certainly looking
for more investment

in environmental market spaces.

And corporate enterprises are also looking
to reduce their own emissions.

So there's all these drivers that we have
and agriculture is really sitting

in the box seat in terms of being able
to sequester carbon

We’re the industry that can do that.

It’s an opportune time to start
thinking about what opportunities

are available to them.

My name is John McGrath.

Myself and my wife Jane
own Higgins Creek farm.

We're a mixed farming operation,
predominantly growing blueberries

and we have seven acres, 3500 blueberry
bushes and Australian white sheep.

Our farm is about 100 acres
and we're located between

about halfway between Ulladulla
and Batemans Bay on the south coast.

So natural capital to me means
what is on the farm itself and the block.

And I guess it's what attracted us
to that farm originally.

So I say to people that I'm
an accidental blueberry farmer.

That is in fact the case.

The farm came with a blueberry
orchard, an ongoing,

blueberry operation,
which I had to learn about very quickly.

But the farm also came
with beautiful creeks,

stands, large stands of trees
that had been there for generations.

And it's surrounded by
Murramurang National park.

So for me, it's a place of natural beauty.

And it's natural capital,
as far as we're concerned,

is what makes the farm a special place.

There's different market strategies
that landholders can take.

So whether they're selling
their agricultural produce

through a market and receiving a price
premium it's a nature positive product.

And I think consumers
are really looking at that.

And there are other market mechanisms

that are out there as well,
such as the carbon market.

So landholders can be paid
for sequestering soil carbon

sequestering carbon
in revegetation projects,

but also be financially rewarded
in biodiversity markets,

such as protecting the existing
biodiversity assets on their farm.

Being able to harness and

capture that biodiversity on the farm,
the riparian corridors

we have at the moment along our waterways,
they should be there for all time.

and there's a cost in keeping
that fenced and keeping

that area free of weeds and keeping it
as natural as we possibly can, so

it's good to know
that there are programs

and things available to us as landholders
that we can access and tap into.

70% of New South Wales
is in private land ownership.

It's really important
for us to work with landholders

because there's some amazing,
really intact bushland

on their properties that creates
amazing habitat for a whole heap

of threatened flora and fauna species.

It's a really amazing
part of the conservation story

is to work with those landholders and
enhance the biodiversity on their site

and we do that by
grant funding processes.

We also provide a whole heap of face
to face workshops and education.

And we also have an online free
diploma in conservation land management

where landholders can learn how to better
manage the biodiversity on their site

and the benefits of doing that.

So I think the first step
for land managers

is to understand what natural assets
they already have on their farm.

and looking at the different
markets strategies,

like really considering
the farm business plan

and goals for the property
is really important

and that will help determine
which path landholders choose to take.

and then getting some really good advice,
talking with LLS and understanding

what those risks and opportunities
are in all of those different approaches.

And then coming up with a plan
to implement them, register projects,

and that continual ongoing monitoring
and improvement of those natural assets

and hopefully receiving
a financial return for that work.

Resources like Local Land Services
has been invaluable to us

moving forward and how we've had to,

learn about what can and can’t be done.

But it also gave us the opportunity
to just sort of slow down a little bit

and not rush and just go, okay,
what can we do here

and how can we be sympathetic to the land
and how can we regenerate it?

And how can we

improve the soil, work on soil biology,
all these things that are important to us

so we can still be a farm,
still actively be primary producers,

but how can we work with the land?

I think that landholders individually
and collectively

have the opportunity of creating change
right across the landscape

and really having a big impact
on biodiversity

and improving health
of our local environment.

So I think by landholders working together
and networking and sharing those ideas,

learning from one another, that peer
to peer learning is just so important.

it's going to go a really long way in
terms of achieving that landscape change.

If you have questions about
natural capital

or sustainable agriculture
on your property

contact your local LLS office.