Conservation auctions
WWF is exploring innovative new ways of working with farmers to conserve patches of native bushland on their properties, using scientific research and economic analysis. Conservation 'auctions' are helping us achieve this.
Salmon gum
© WWF-Australia/Mike GRIFFITHS
The auction scheme creates a market opportunity for valuing and paying for environmental benefits and services on private land.
Landowners develop a business proposition to change land use and carry out landscape conservation, and funds are provided via a contract between two parties, with the buyer (using public money provided by a government or regional group) paying for a service that the business operator (the farmer) provides.
Western Australia
The Wheatbelt region in the Southwest Australia Ecoregion is part of one of the most biodiverse areas on earth - Australia's only Global Biodiversity Hotspot.
Yet more than 90% of original bushland in the area has been cleared for agriculture, and what remains is threatened by salinity and invasive species.
Our auction scheme in WA's Wheatbelt region:
- Oversaw the auction process and coordinated the many people involved - including Avon Catchment Council, the North Eastern Wheatbelt Regional Organisation of Councils, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems and the University of Western Australia.
- Assisted farmers to develop best-practice on-ground projects and management plans.
- Over two rounds in 2004-2005, assessed bids using two methods of tender evaluation - the Environmental Benefits Index and Systematic Conservation Planning - in order to select those projects that provide the most cost-effective options for biodiversity conservation in the context of the whole landscape.
You can download the final report, which summarises how the conservation auction approach worked in the highly fragmented Wheatbelt landscape of the Southwest Australia Ecoregion.
For further information please contact WWF-Australia Project Coordinator Cheryl Gole on 08 9293 4958.
New South Wales
Liverpool Plains, located on the Upper Namoi River in north-west NSW, is a highly productive agricultural region.
The health of this area is threatened by dryland salinity and groundwater recharge, floodplain management issues, soil erosion, water quality issues, and problems with riverbank vegetation.
In partnership with the Liverpool Plains Land Management Committee, WWF-Australia set up a 'conservation auction' scheme to enable landholders to 'bid' for funds to carry out high priority, on-ground land management activities, such as restoring natural floodways, maintaining vegetation cover or replanting trees.
Funding for the bidding was provided by WWF, with support from the Australian and NSW governments.
The first auction round took place in November 2001 and focused on conserving biodiversity and reducing dryland salinity. The second auction round in October 2002 also considered water quality as a key issue.
Most of the nominated environmental issues were addressed by altering farming systems to more appropriately match the landscape (for example, by managing crop rotation and tillage).
We have produced a detailed report summarising the auction process and results achieved.
