Navigate this article using the buttons below.
The Nature Collective invited Wilderlands to be part of a recent Nature Insights Series event titled ‘protect nature and fulfill rating tool credits’ bringing together leaders from across the built environment sector to explore the benefits of using biodiversity units for schemes like the Nature Stewardship Credit (38) as well as the Living Building Challenge Habitat Exchange Imperative, and IS Design & As-Built Rating v2.1 Eco-1 Ecological Protection & Enhance Credits.
Delivered by the Nature Collective’s Stephanie Sirianni and Wilderlands CEO Ash Knop, the online event detailed how Wilderlands Biological Diversity Units can help protect our most precious ecosystems, whilst offering predictable pricing, no design implications for the build, and reliable points towards your Green Star pathway.
Wilderlands have created one of the world’s first voluntary biodiversity credits that fulfill rating tool credit requirements enabling organisations to receive points on their credit pathway by protecting the equivalent footprint of a developments site area or gross floor area (GFA), or by demonstrating a quantifiable net ecological gain for infrastructure projects.
Wilderlands Biological Diversity Units (BDU’s) represent one square metre of permanently protected and actively managed land in high conservation value projects across Australia, find out more about how it works here.
Each unit ranges in price from $3 – $10 across the four projects currently available, however Wilderlands are also working with a range of organisations to commission new projects to align with project specific nature goals.
Among the benefits of using biodiversity units for schemes like the Nature Stewardship Credit (38) include protection of our most precious ecosystems, predictable pricing, no design implications for the build, and reliable points towards your Green Star pathway.
Introduction to the Nature Stewardship Credit
The Green Star Nature Stewardship Credit has been recently introduced by the Green Building Council of Australia to encourage developers aiming for a Green Star Buildings or Performance Rating on new and existing buildings to have a positive impact on biodiversity offsite.
To achieve the Nature Stewardship Credit you must sponsor an offsite conservation project the equivalent size of your GFA or site area (the greater of) and fulfill the credit achievement requirements to receive two or three points towards your green star pathway (2 points for Green Star Buildings and 3 points for the Performance tool)
Featured in the Green Star Buildings and Performance tools, the Nature Stewardship Credit credit has a clear set of guidelines detailing what is required to achieve two to three points towards your Green Star pathway and these are outlined in the video below.
The evidence required is detailed below as well as outlining how Wilderlands work to provide partners with all of this information in a Nature Stewardship Credit pack
A key benefit of utilising biodiversity credits for your building project is having a meaningful positive impact on vulnerable Australian ecosystems.
The costs are competitively priced with each units between $3 and $10 per square meter, as well as having the ability lock-in the price to give you peace of mind.
Biological Diversity Units come with the advantage of having no design impact on your project, and they can be purchased down to the square metre, protecting the exact footprint of your project.
Wilderlands package all evidence documents required in a ‘Nature Stewardship Credit Pack’ which can be turned around efficiently to meet your project requirements.
In addition, Wilderlands is ready to collaborate with you on developing long-term projects, tailored to meet your specific requirements. Whether it’s about proximity, ecosystem type, or budget, Wilderlands is equipped to greenlight new projects that align perfectly with your environmental goals.
Below are example of how Wilderlands can work across projects of various scales to achieve outstanding results utilising biodiversity credits for the Nature Stewardship Credit.
Scenario 1. A NEW Innovation precinct in Sydney
A developer is constructing a high-rise innovation precinct in the Sydney CBD with a Gross Floor Area of 31,740sqm.
The Nature Stewardship Credit (38) is on the project’s 6 Star Green Star Buildings pathway, and has enabled the developer to acquire 2 of these points with the purchase of Wilderlands’ Biological Diversity Units, permanently protecting the equivalent footprint of the building’s GFA.
The developer has chosen to support the Alleena project in NSW’s Riverina, at $3 per square metre. The total cost to achieve the two Nature Stewardship Credits will be $95,220 (Gross Floor Area x cost of Wilderlands Biological Diversity Units for the Alleena project).
Scenario 2. Upgrading council buildings in Melbourne
A local council is seeking to enhance its current council building’s Green Star Rating from 4 Star to 6 Star. A feasibility study has identified onsite improvements would significantly enhance their rating, including updating lighting, implementing water-saving and waste reduction measures, and implementing green infrastructure.
A local council is seeking to enhance its current council building’s Green Star Rating from 4 Star to 6 Star. A feasibility study has identified onsite improvements would significantly enhance their rating, including updating lighting, implementing water-saving and waste reduction measures, and implementing green infrastructure.
Additionally, the council can gain two Nature Stewardship Credits by supporting an offsite project through Wilderlands, which would protect the equivalent of the site area of the council property, in this case 6,825sqm.
The council has chosen to protect the Wilderlands’ Budgerum project in Central Victoria at $4.40 per unit. The total cost to achieve the two Nature Stewardship Credits will be $30,030 (Gross Floor Area x cost of Wilderlands Biological Diversity Units for the Budgerum project)
Connect with the Wilderlands team
Wilderlands welcomes the chance to connect and explore how we can support you and your team in understanding the Nature Stewardship Credit and how our Biological Diversity Credits can meet your requirements.
Connect with our team today to learn more.
FAQ
No. Biological Diversity Units are voluntary biodiversity credits that cannot be used to offset compliance or regulatory requirements.
Yes. ‘Green Star’ customers can choose the exact number of BDUs they wish to buy from a variety of projects.
A ‘Green Star’ Biological Diversity Unit customer receives the full contingent of documentation required to claim the Nature Stewardship Credit (38), plus additional content, access to expert ecologists, access to the projects, and more.
