Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016

A request to the Minister to enter into a biodiversity stewardship agreement is to be made by application of an owner of the site proposed to be designated as a biodiversity stewardship site.

The application—

is to be in the form approved by the Minister and containing the information required by that form, and

is to be accompanied by a processing fee prescribed by the regulations.

The application is to be accompanied by a biodiversity stewardship site assessment report prepared by an accredited person—

that assesses the biodiversity values of the proposed site in accordance with the biodiversity assessment method, and

that sets out the management actions proposed to be carried out on the proposed site, and

that specifies in accordance with the biodiversity assessment method the number and class of biodiversity credits that may be created in respect of those management actions.

The Minister may require any owner of the proposed site to provide land management plans relating to the site.

The Minister may decline a request from an owner of a site to enter into a biodiversity stewardship agreement if the Minister considers that any owner of the site is not a fit and proper person to enter into, and fulfil the obligations imposed by, the agreement. The regulations may make provision with respect to whether an owner is such a fit and proper person.

The regulations may prescribe other grounds on which the Minister may decline a request to enter into a biodiversity stewardship agreement.