Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016

The Minister may, on behalf of the State, enter into an agreement (a biodiversity conservation agreement) with an owner or occupier of land in relation to land specified in the agreement.

A biodiversity conservation agreement may be entered into for one or more of the following purposes —

to facilitate the ecologically sustainable use of biodiversity components;

to mitigate the effect of, or prevent, activities that may have an adverse impact on biodiversity or biodiversity components;

to otherwise promote or enhance biodiversity conservation in the State.

The Minister must not enter into a biodiversity conservation agreement unless the Minister is satisfied that implementation of, or compliance with, the agreement will be of overall benefit to biodiversity conservation in the State.

The Minister must not enter into a biodiversity conservation agreement with an owner of land unless the following persons have consented in writing to the agreement —

each occupier of the land who is not an owner of the land;

each mortgagee of the land.

The Minister must not enter into a biodiversity conservation agreement with an occupier of land unless the following persons have consented in writing to the agreement —

each owner of the land;

each mortgagee of the land.

Before entering into a biodiversity conservation agreement that relates to Crown land, the Minister must obtain the concurrence of the Minister responsible for the administration of the Land Administration Act 1997.