Abstract for presentation at Biodiversity Extinction Crisis Conference - A Pacific Response

The global imperative to protect and restore biodiversity, land and water resources has been well documented. We now face the urgent challenge of tackling the additional stress of climate change on these systems, and the need to maximise the sequestration of carbon in vegetation and soil. In Australia and other parts of the world, there are diverse efforts to revegetate catchments, manage and restore wetlands and waterways, connect remnant vegetation and sequester carbon in plantations. The scale varies from individual landholdings and public reserves, to large-scale regional projects such as biosphere reserves and the Wilderness Society's WildCountry initiative. However the laws and institutions to support this activity and counter greenhouse gas emissions range from piecemeal to non-existent. The Australian EPBC Act has various provisions purportedly for landscape-scale biodiversity protection, but they are limited in scope, regulatory power, and implementation. In many developing countries, unregulated deforestation due to logging and clearance for agriculture currently accounts for up to 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Carbon offsets and trading schemes have the potential to provide substantial, ongoing funding for vegetation programs around the world. However there is a risk that plantations for carbon sequestration or to produce biofuels will have little biodiversity value, and could even replace existing native vegetation communities.
This paper discusses the characteristics of the legal and institutional frameworks required at a national level to support and regulate the establishment of 'climate-scapes' for both biodiversity and climate protection. A primary requirement is to ensure long-term security for both sequestered carbon and for biodiversity. There is a need for a new designation of land which recognises landscapes where restoration and long-term protection of ecosystems and ecosystem processes are over-arching management goals on a variety of land tenures. An economically efficient funding allocation mechanism should be linked to legislation that provides security for the investment of funds. Reliable and cost-effective measurement and monitoring procedures are required for carbon sequestration and biodiversity outcomes.