Nature-based solutions work with natural systems to address environmental challenges that help protect communities, homes and local economies from increasing fire and floods risks. 

After severe flooding in 2019, Terrain NRM restored two erosion hotspots in the Mossman catchment—Bamboo Creek and the Mossman River—using nature-based solutions (NbS).

Five years on, these sites show how working with natural systems—not against them—can stabilise riverbanks, support vegetation, and improve resilience to future floods.

The two sites, one at Bamboo Creek (BC-1) and one on the Mossman River (MR-2), were restored using a combination of nature-based engineering techniques and revegetation. Thanks to funding from the Minderoo Foundation, we’ve been able to revisit these sites to see how they fared after major weather events, including during Tropical Cyclone Jasper (2023), and to understand how nature-based solutions perform under real-world conditions in the Wet Tropics.

Lessons learnt

1. Smart design starts with the right location
Nature-based solutions succeed when they match the natural behaviour of the river. At the Bamboo Creek site, revegetation has thrived because it was placed above the active channel, where it is only occasionally inundated. This reduced exposure to strong flows and erosion, allowing vegetation to establish and strengthen the bank.

2. Nature-based solutions can significantly reduce erosion
At the Mossman River site, timber pile fields reduced erosive forces dramatically – by up to 75–90% in smaller flows and by around 50–75% in larger flows. During Tropical Cyclone Jasper, the site experienced far less damage than was expected. Well-designed NbS can therefore meaningfully reduce the physical forces that drive erosion, and can protect both land and infrastructure.

3. After big change, smaller floods can cause bigger damage
One key finding from the report is that changes in site hydrology require adaptive design. Although the Mossman River site emerged from Tropical Cyclone Jasper with minimal impact, smaller flood events in 2026 caused significantly greater erosion and vegetation loss. The cumulative effects of the cyclone over the following three years fundamentally altered the Mossman River system, creating conditions that the original, site-specific nature-based design was not equipped to withstand.

4. Rivers change – designs must adapt too
Sediment deposited after Tropical Cyclone Jasper raised the riverbed at the Mossman River site by over one metre. This reduced channel capacity and increased flooding risk. This meant smaller floods began behaving more like larger events so NbS require adaptive management, rather than a “set and forget” approach to continue to protect the sites from the impacts of flooding.

5. Maintenance and monitoring are essential
Long-term success of NbS depends on ongoing maintenance including weed control, watering and infill planting, so investment is required beyond the initial installation.

Around the world, new environmental markets are emerging in response to an urgent challenge: how to rapidly accelerate investment into nature at the scale required to address climate change and biodiversity loss.

These markets take many forms—carbon, biodiversity, water and plastics—but share a common purpose. They provide credible frameworks to quantify and verify measurable environmental improvements, which can then be purchased, connecting private capital with on ground outcomes.

For investors, they represent an opportunity to support nature positive outcomes while responding to growing regulatory, reputational and market expectations.

Why are they being developed?

Most people are familiar with the climate crisis. Less widely recognised—but equally important—is the biodiversity crisis: the accelerating loss of plant and animal species and the degradation of ecosystems globally.

This is not just an environmental issue. Biodiversity loss threatens food security, human health, social stability and economic prosperity. More than 50 per cent of global GDP is considered moderately or highly dependent on nature.

These twin crises are interconnected and driven by human impacts on the natural world. Addressing them together is both possible and essential—but it requires coordinated action from governments, businesses, communities and landholders, supported by substantial investment.

Shifts in policy and sustained increases in public environment funding are required to meet the scale and urgency of the challenge. However, financial input from the private and philanthropic sectors is also necessary to help bridge the significant funding gap. Environmental markets are emerging as one mechanism providing the framework to mobilise private capital into conservation, restoration and improved land management.

The global policy context

Momentum for nature positive investment has been strengthened by recent global policy developments.

At the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15) in 2022, 195 countries and the European Union adopted the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. A central commitment of the agreement is the protection of 30 per cent of the world’s land and water by 2030—the “30 by 30” target.

Delivering on these ambitious goals will require new financial mechanisms.

Environmental markets, including emerging biodiversity credit markets, are one of those tools.

What’s happening in Australia?

In the years following the adoption of the Global Biodiversity Framework, Australia has moved to develop enabling policy settings and market infrastructure.

In 2024, the Australian Government released its Nature Positive Plan and announced the establishment of a national Nature Repair Market. The market is designed to enable private investment in projects that deliver verified, measurable improvements in biodiversity outcomes, creating new opportunities for investors to engage in nature positive action.

Alongside this national initiative, a range of state based, and privately operated environmental markets continue to operate.

A growing number of voluntary programs also exist, catering to diverse environmental outcomes and investor preferences. Within this evolving landscape, locally grounded, high integrity schemes play an important role in translating policy ambition into tangible outcomes on the ground.

Terrain NRM is inviting community groups, Traditional Owners and landholders to apply for new “Green Connections” funding for 75 hectares of project work.

The project runs from now until June 2028 and aims to deliver the following:

• Revegetation (i.e. planting seedlings)
  • 9 hectares of any native vegetation community
  • 2 hectares of Threatened Ecological Community
• Restoration (i.e. assisted natural regeneration and weed/pest control)
  • 44 hectares in any native vegetation community
  • 20 hectares in a Threatened Ecological Community

The project is part of Terrain NRM’s Green Connections program, that is aiming to reconnect and buffer the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.

For this grant funding, our primary focus is ecological corridors and Strategic Rehabilitation Areas.

Eligible activities include weed and pest control and assisted natural regeneration.

Expressions of Interest are encouraged to be submitted as soon as possible. Applications will continue to be reviewed and assessed, while funding is available.

This project is funded by the Queensland Government’s Natural Resource Management Expansion Program. 

Australia’s first registered site to deliver both Carbon Credits and Cassowary Credits was officially launched today at Ninds Creek near Innisfail, with more than 70 volunteers planting 3000 native trees as part of the milestone event.

The day marks a key moment in the rollout of the new Cassowary Credits biodiversity program, designed specifically for the Wet Tropics region to attract more investment into forest restoration and to reward landholders for restoring and protecting native ecosystems.

Cassowary Coast Regional Council’s Cr Jeff Baines, Environment portfolio holder, praised the initiative and joined volunteers in planting, calling it an exciting moment for the nation’s first carbon stacking project. The project is on council land.

“This project is about action and leadership, not just for the Cassowary Coast but for the whole country,” he said.

“Terrain NRM and Eco Markets Australia have led an incredibly important initiative, and Council is proud to support such a significant step forward in nature-based solutions that deliver for both biodiversity and climate.”

Mamu Traditional Custodian and Trainee Land and Sea Ranger Inggui Hart shared the importance of restoring Country through collaboration.

“Being on Country means a lot,” Mr Hart said.

“Today we are planting over 3000 native trees with the help of volunteers, Terrain NRM, Council and C4. As a Traditional Owner, it’s great to see native species being returned to Country.

“We’ll be helping monitor the site and watching as the native animals and ecosystems return.”

Terrain NRM’s Bronwyn Robertson explained that ‘stacking’ allows landholders to earn both Carbon Credits for carbon storage and Cassowary Credits for biodiversity protection on the same parcel of land.

“The Cassowary Credit Scheme has been approved for stacking by the Australian Government’s Clean Energy Regulator,” Ms Robertson said.

“Up to 50,000 hectares across the Wet Tropics region have the potential to be part of this new environmental finance program, which focuses on land that’s considered unsuitable for agriculture.”

“This landmark project is the first of its kind in the Wet Tropics, combining Carbon and Cassowary Credits on a single site.”

Landholders and agencies interested in supporting biodiversity and exploring the benefits of Cassowary Credits are encouraged to get involved.

To learn more about Cassowary Credits or to register your interest, visit www.cassowarycredits.com.au

In a landmark development for environmental markets in Australia, Cassowary Credit projects are now eligible to be stacked with Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) projects under the Clean Energy Regulator’s framework.

This is the first time a biodiversity credit program has been formally endorsed for project stacking and it means that landholders can generate two separate tradeable credits on the same parcel of land.

What is stacking?

In environmental markets, stacking means generating multiple types of environmental credits from a single project or parcel of land. Each credit type—such as a carbon credit or a biodiversity credit—is measured and issued separately and can be sold independently or as a bundle.

To be eligible, projects must meet strict additionality rules to ensure that each credit type reflects a truly distinct environmental benefit, with no double-counting.

Example: Stacking Cassowary Credits with ACCUs

Let’s walk through how an ACCU project (Australian Carbon Credit Units) can be stacked with a Cassowary Credit project:

1. Register the ACCU project
The landholder first registers an ACCU project using the Reforestation by Environmental and Mallee Planting Methodology with the Clean Energy Regulator. The project must meet all eligibility criteria, including “newness” and additionality.

2. Register the Cassowary Credit project
The same area is then registered under the Rainforest Replanting Methodology in the Cassowary Credit Scheme, managed by Eco-Markets Australia. Again, all eligibility requirements must be met.

3. Start the project
The landholder can then begin on-ground activities, ensuring they meet the requirements for both credit types of schemes.

4. Generate credits

• Carbon credits (ACCUs) are calculated using the FullCAM model.
• Cassowary Credits are issued for additional biodiversity gains, assessed under the Rainforest Replanting Methodology.

Australians are feeling the pinch. Cost of living is a major concern – even with the inflation rate brought under control in the last two years – and it’s likely to be the defining issue of the upcoming federal election.

One of the major drivers of cost-of-living pressures is climate change. Here’s how it’s squeezing our household budgets, and why we need to take more action on addressing climate change and investing in the environment to reduce cost of living pressures.

1. Extreme Weather and Food Prices

In the last five years, food prices have risen by 20 per cent. ‘Unprecedented’ natural disasters are becoming more commonplace. Every time a major flood, cyclone or wildfire sweeps through a community, it devastates crops, causes livestock damage, reduces yields and disrupts supply chains. And all of this pushes up food prices.

Climate change is also increasing production costs more generally. Primary producers are needing to spend more on water management, pest control, disease control, accounting for increased crop losses and other adaptive measures, and inevitably there is a flow-on effect for consumers.

2. Insurance and Housing Costs

Insurance costs are being driven up significantly by climate change. Australians are collectively paying $30 billion more today on insurance than they were 10 years ago. The increasing frequency of natural disasters is an underlying cause, with more frequent and sizeable claims costing insurance companies more. Even disasters in other countries impact Australia by driving up the cost of reinsurance.

What we are now starting to see is insurance companies either pulling out of flood-prone areas, including some areas in the Wet Tropics, or charging substantially more.

Housing costs are also impacted. Extreme weather damages infrastructure, reducing housing supply and pushing up construction and rental prices. As demand outstrips supply, Australians are left paying more for housing—whether they rent, own or are trying to buy.

3. Rising Energy Costs

Australia’s reliance on coal and gas for energy, and the industry’s aging infrastructure, are significantly impacting cost of living. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2023 didn’t help. The cost of oil, petrol, gas and diesel has increased much more than other goods. On average we are paying $30 more to fill up a vehicle’s fuel tank now than we were before the COVID-19 pandemic. This directly impacts fuel and power bills. It also puts inflationary pressure on other goods, including food, due to transport costs.

On-ground projects have begun in the Daintree and Innisfail as the launch of a biodiversity credit scheme, based in the Wet Tropics region, draws closer.

Terrain NRM is working with Rainforest Rescue and Cassowary Coast Regional Council on ‘beta phase’ revegetation projects for Cassowary Credits, one of the world’s first high-integrity biodiversity credit schemes.

For the past five years, Terrain NRM has been working with private industry, government, scientists, indigenous groups, community organisations and Eco-Markets Australia on the development of this conservation finance scheme to attract more investment into rainforest restoration and protection.

Through Cassowary Credits, land managers can generate quantified units of habitat restoration, known as ‘credits’, to be sold on environmental markets worldwide.

Partnering with Rainforest Rescue and Cassowary Coast Regional Council 

Terrain NRM’s Bronwyn Robertson says partnering with Cassowary Coast Regional Council and Rainforest Rescue is hugely satisfying following the design and product development years.

“We are working closely with our first participants to select sites, survey the habitat for baseline condition assessments, plan the projects to get the best biodiversity and community outcomes, and start the planting and monitoring,’’ she says.

“Habitat condition will be measured over time. Improvements generate Cassowary Credits. This beta phase is our final testing phase, to guide future projects.”

Ideal location for a biodiversity credit scheme

She says the Wet Tropics is the ideal location for a biodiversity credit scheme.

“We live in one of the most biologically diverse bioregions in the world, and the only place with two interconnected world heritage areas – our Wet Tropics forests and the Great Barrier Reef.

“But our habitat faces an increasing number of threats – from invasive species to climate change. And restoration work is under-funded.

“For a long time, local community organisations, Traditional Owner groups and landholders have been calling for larger-scale and longer-term funding for restoration and conservation.

“While biodiversity credit markets are in their infancy, their role in mobilising increased funding for biodiversity has been recognised in the United Nations Global Biodiversity Framework. Cassowary Credits places the Wet Tropics region in a good position to take advantage of early developments in the emerging biodiversity credit market.”

Rainforest Rescue’s CEO Branden Barber sees Cassowary Credits as an essential mechanism for regional restoration of rare and threatened species.

His organisation is in the planning and feasibility stages for restoring 30 hectares of low-lying land across the road from an ox-bow wetland that connects with the Daintree River as well as Crocodile Creek and adjacent mangroves at the mouth of the Daintree River.

“There are two different ecotones and, if restored, the area would support a range of threatened and iconic species,’’ he says. “It’s also an important spot for migratory species.

The Cassowary Credit Scheme has reached a new phase in its development, with field testing at more than 30 revegetation sites now happening across the Wet Tropics region.

New funders on board

Terrain NRM’s Bronwyn Robertson said new co-funding from the Queensland Department of Environment and Science and the World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia was welcomed as the biodiversity market scheme progressed to an on-ground testing stage.

Designed by Terrain NRM, the scheme will enable Far North Queensland land managers to generate tradable units of habitat restoration, known as a ‘Cassowary Credits’, which will be sold on environmental markets to investors ranging from philanthropists to governments and corporates.

Ms Robertson said Cassowary Credits focused on restoration of Far North Queensland tropical rainforest habitat. She said up to 50,000 hectares of land had potential to be part of the scheme.

“This is land that’s considered unsuitable for agriculture based on soil type, slope or closeness to watercourses,’’ she said.

Team work to design new ecosystems services market scheme

Terrain NRM has been working with private industry, government, scientists, indigenous groups and wildlife experts to design and develop the new ecosystem services market scheme.

Ms Robertson said the new funding would also be used to build regional capacity for larger scale restoration projects and to incorporate Accounting for Nature methodology into the scheme to widen its scope to include carbon projects with environmental co-benefits.

The global spotlight has been on Montreal as representatives from around the world meet to gain agreement on a Global Biodiversity Framework and to set goals and targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Thanks to our work on Cassowary Credits – a biodiversity credit scheme – Terrain NRM was part of the UN Conference.    

An historic agreement has been reached at the COP15 conference. Nations agreed to protect a third of the planet for nature by 2030 – great news that creates targets we can all work with for protecting rainforests, wetlands and the rights of Indigenous peoples.    

The next hurdle is funding, which was also a major topic of discussion at the conference. Setting targets is one thing, committing the funding to make it happen is another. Currently there is insufficient investment from governments. Other entities in the private sector are stepping up and environmental organisations have also been exploring alternative investment sources. An example is the Cassowary Credit Scheme that Terrain is developing to bring more funding into the Wet Tropics region for forest restoration projects. One of the targets set at COP15 includes substantial increases in investment from all sources, and recognises biodiversity credits as a mechanism for driving private sector finance into nature regeneration.    

Sarah Hoyal, Terrain’s Biodiversity and Climate Leader, says Terrain NRM’s thinking aligned with many others at COP15 on the need for greater investment in nature from multiple sources that truly benefit nature, Indigenous people, and local communities.   

“It’s obvious, from the people we’ve been speaking to, that there’s a real appetite for change that is broader and supplements government funding. There is a lot of thinking around how financial markets can help accelerate nature restoration. It’s not about monetising nature, it’s simply enabling a greater pool of investment.”  

“Currently there isn’t a developed nature market anywhere in the world, and many consortiums globally are coming together to tackle the idea of a global nature market. The risk is that while there is a lot of interest in restoring nature, without sufficient investment and a rigorous framework, it could all result in ‘green washing’.” 

Queensland is responsible for 90% of Australia’s total land sector emissions. Avoiding further land clearing is essential but it is only one component, we also need to encourage reforestation.

What is carbon farming?

Carbon farming is a way for landholders to generate another income from their land and also make improvements to their ‘natural capital’. You can derive an income either by avoiding carbon emissions or by sequestering emissions, which means drawing carbon down and storing it.

Landholders can reduce carbon emissions through practices such as reducing methane from livestock, reducing fertiliser emissions, manure management and savannah fire management or sequester carbon through reforestation as an example.

Carbon farming methods

There are several different methods that have been developed for carbon farming including:

• Beef – herd improvement, feeding nitrates
• Soil carbon
• Irrigated cotton
• Dairy – destruction of methane, dietary additives
• Vegetation – reforestation, revegetation, protecting native forests
• Blue carbon
• Savannah fire management

Cassowary Credits 

Terrain NRM is developing a new biodiversity credit scheme that is designed to be stacked on top of carbon credits to make it more viable for landholders in the Wet Tropics to derive an income from reforestation.