This is a guest post by Alan Key from Aus­tralian con­sul­tancy Earth­trade. This com­ment is the expres­sion of the author’s thoughts and expe­ri­ences and such is acknowl­edged as a fruit­ful con­tri­bu­tion to the dis­cus­sion on bio­di­ver­sity off­sets. If you want to react or clar­ify your own posi­tion (under­pin or dis­prove Alan’s rea­son­ing), please leave a reply below! This post has orig­i­nally been pub­lished by Earth­trade.

Earth­trade, and our clients Cock­a­too Coal, BHP Bil­li­ton Mit­sui and BHP Bil­li­ton Mit­subishi Alliance are proud to be part­ner­ing with Woora­binda Abo­rig­i­nal Shire Coun­cil in the pro­vi­sion of 547ha of bio­di­ver­sity off­set areas on Woora­binda lands of Cen­tral Queens­land. This sig­na­ture project was launched on 26 August 2015 at Woora­binda by the Queens­land Trea­surer, Min­is­ter for Employ­ment and Indus­trial Rela­tions and Min­is­ter for Abo­rig­i­nal and Tor­res Strait Islander Part­ner­ships (DATSIP) The Hon­ourable Cur­tis Pitt. The project has been uni­ver­sally lauded for its inno­v­a­tive approach, and in its pro­vi­sion of eco­nomic and devel­op­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties for the Woora­binda com­mu­nity (see DATSIP press release below).

Earthtrade’s Chair­man David Nilon said this was a pio­neer­ing approach to bio­di­ver­sity off­sets that would pro­vide for the pro­tec­tion of species that rely on the Briga­low Belt’s ecol­ogy, that includes the orna­men­tal snake, the vul­ner­a­ble squat­ter pigeon, vul­ner­a­ble long-eared bat, endan­gered solanum species of plant and Briga­low eco­log­i­cal community.

“This project demon­strates that not only are envi­ron­men­tal out­comes pos­si­ble, but that triple bot­tom line impacts of eco­nomic, social and envi­ron­men­tal out­comes are entirely achiev­able,” said Mr Nilon.

For more infor­ma­tion see the offi­cial press release and see also the related arti­cle and emis­sion on ABC Radio.

Pho­tos of the project launch

Min­is­ter The Hon­ourable Cur­tis Pitt speak­ing at the launch of the project

Tra­di­tional dancers wel­comed the vis­i­tors to the community

The Trea­surer and Coun­cil­lors inspect­ing some of the country

Mayor of Woora­binda, Coun­cil­lor Terry Munns, speak­ing at the launch.

Direc­tor Gen­eral of the Depart­ment of Abo­rig­i­nal and Tor­res Strait Islander Part­ner­ships Clare O’Connor, with Earth­trade Chair­man David Nilon

Earthtrade’s Chair­man David Nilon and Man­ag­ing Direc­tor Alan Key speak with the media at the event.