Biodiversity Offsets in NSW Australia: The Biobanking Scheme versus Negotiated Offsets in Urban Areas

The article provides a comprehensive comparison between concurrent offset schemes in New South Wales (NSW), Australia: the biobanking scheme and the negotiation of offsets within the traditional development control and planning system. In an attempt to improve the protection of biodiversity values in NSW, the Parliament adopted in 2006 an offset scheme (biobanking) that aims to better integrate biodiversity values into development projects. Rather than making it mandatory, the scheme works in parallel with the existing negotiation of biodiversity offsets under the traditional assessment and approval process. As the biobanking scheme is voluntary, its effectiveness depends in part on its attractiveness as compared with the alternative route. While the article helps to better understand how the biobanking scheme operates in theory and in practice, its teachings are particularly useful in the European Union context, with the European Commission currently developing a no net loss policy (action 7b of the 2020 Biodiversity Strategy) and several Member States adopting habitat banking and offset policies. The NSW experience highlights the importance of carefully integrating banking and offset schemes within the existing legal framework for assessing and approving impacts on biodiversity. It also highlights the need to establish common decision-making and offset standards applicable to all developers, whether they compensate on a case-by case basis or through the use of biodiversity credit