Heritage Agreement Policy and Guidelines
Consultation has concluded. Thanks for your contributions.
Have your say on how private conservation areas are approved, managed and used through Heritage Agreements, and incentives for landholders across South Australia.
What's being decided?
The Native Vegetation Council is seeking feedback on a draft Heritage Agreement policy and Application for financial assistance guideline that aims to clarify the way private conservation areas operate across South Australia.
Sharing your views and experiences will help the Native Vegetation Council identify opportunities to improve the draft policy and draft guideline to support Heritage Agreement owners and approved revegetation projects.
The draft Heritage Agreement Policy has been prepared to:
- establish criteria for approving new Heritage Agreements
- clarify permitted activities
- establish considerations for varying or terminating Heritage Agreements
- provide incentives for Heritage Agreement owners
The draft policy also clearly establishes carbon farming and biodiversity markets as permissible activities on a Heritage Agreement, facilitating conservation and enabling landholders to generate income.
The draft Guideline – Applications for financial assistance outlines the information to be included when applying to the Native Vegetation Council for financial assistance to manage a Heritage Agreement or approved revegetation project.
To inform the draft policy and draft guideline, a Review of Heritage Agreements has been undertaken which considers other jurisdiction’s covenant schemes and whether the current structure supports the requirements of the Native Vegetation Act 1991. This review has been used as the foundation for developing the draft Heritage Agreement Policy and draft Guideline – Applications for financial assistance.
Together, the draft policy and draft guideline will streamline and clarify the decision-making processes for new Heritage Agreements, variations to existing Heritage Agreements, how these areas are managed and used and the available financial assistance.
Background
Heritage Agreements between private landholders and the South Australian Government create conservation areas on private land and make a significant contribution to protecting and restoring native biodiversity across the state.
Heritage Agreements have been a means to protect and restore native vegetation on private land since the 1980s.
There are over 1600 Heritage Agreements in South Australia. More than 2800 landholders have already agreed to ensure the long-term protection of 1.85 million hectares of the state’s native vegetation, covering a similar area to national and conservation parks across the state’s agricultural areas.
Private land can form part of an important wildlife corridor, provide a buffer to national or conservation parks or help establish private sanctuaries, playing a critical role in building environmental resilience to climate change.
Get involved
If you have an interest in the Native Vegetation Council’s approach to Heritage Agreements or providing financial assistance to landholders have your say on the draft policy and draft guideline.
Find out more:
- Read the Heritage Agreement Policy and Guideline – Applications for financial assistance
- Visit the Department for Environment and Water website for further information on Heritage Agreements
Have your say by:
- Emailing your feedback to the Native Vegetation Council
- Participating in the online forum
- Completing the survey
- Post your written submission to:
Attn: Native Vegetation Council – Heritage Agreement policy and guideline review, GPO Box 1047, Adelaide 5001
Please note: your feedback may be made publicly available unless you indicate on the submission that you wish for it to remain confidential. Any responses that are made on a confidential basis may still be subject to access under Freedom of Information laws.
What are the next steps?
All feedback will be presented to the Native Vegetation Council and will be considered in finalising the draft Heritage Agreement Policy and draft Guidelines - Applications for financial assistance.
The outcome of the consultation will be available on this website and on the Department for Environment and Water website.
