Harnessing Private Sector Conservation

With more than 60 per cent of Australia’s land area under private management, conservation cannot be adequately addressed without private sector participation according to a report released by the Productivity Commission.

The Commission Research Paper - Harnessing Private Sector Conservation of Biodiversity - says it is important from both an ecological and economic perspective that private sector provision of biodiversity conservation is as efficient and effective as possible.

Commissioner Neil Byron said, ‘The potential contribution of private markets needs to be harnessed if we are to succeed in addressing the ongoing loss of biodiversity in this country’.

The report found that governments could improve both biodiversity conservation and economic outcomes by removing unnecessarily restrictive regulatory constraints on private resource users and managers, while clarifying their rights and responsibilities for biodiversity conservation and establishing appropriate cost sharing frameworks.