A 5,000-hectare conservation project on an outback Queensland cattle property is expected to provide several years of biodiversity offsets to Santos's coal seam gas activities nearby.
In collaboration with traditional owners, Santos will conserve and regenerate part of Mount Tabor Station — also known as Goorathuntha — in southern central Queensland for at least 20 years.
That work will provide biodiversity offsets to current and future disturbance related to coal seam gas activities about 100 kilometres away in the Fairview Gas Field, north of Roma.
The Department of Resources granted final approvals earlier this month.
A biodiversity offset works to conserve a landscape and foster biodiversity in one area to offset environmentally destructive activities taking place somewhere else.
A public Santos report has shown that Mount Tabor would provide offsets for several threatened species impacted by stage four of the gas giant's GLNG development at Fairview, including the northern quoll, koalas and yakka skinks.
Santos manager for cultural heritage and Aboriginal engagement Haydn Kreicbergs said Mount Tabor was identified as a potential site for biodiversity offsetting several years ago.
"We can now progress implementing the project, so that'll mean quarantining, fencing off over 5,000 hectares of land on Mount Tabor to basically protect that country to support ecological and biological resources, and the cultural value of the land for nearly 20 years," Mr Kreicebergs said.
"Essentially that land will be left alone for 20 years to regenerate."
Traditional owners welcome partnership
Goordadunda Traditional Owners Limited (GTOL) — which owns the property — has welcomed the news as a financial lifeline for the property, which is culturally significant to the Bidjara people.
The property has primarily used cattle grazing as its sole income source, with the new Santos deal providing financial security and employment opportunities including First Nations ranger roles.
Bijara elder and longstanding Mount Tabor property manager, Keelen Mailman, described the project as "bloody good".
"As blackfellas and as Bidjara people, we're about caring for country and looking after country, so the biodiversity offset is giving us that opportunity to have natural vegetation and looking after the wildlife and looking after country," she said.
"It makes me feel so much safer that we've got funds and income going into the future, that if for instance [the cattle] don't want to stay on anymore it's not such a dire emergency as to where more funds are going to come from."
Santos would not disclose the financial agreement with traditional owners, saying it was commercial in confidence.
However, Mr Kreicbergs said it represented "a significant financial and social opportunity for the Bidjara people".
Concerns over biodiversity offsetting
Experts in clean energy and offsetting schemes are concerned that biodiversity offset schemes are not operating effectively in Australia.
Environmental and development sociologist Kristen Lyons said the principles underpinning the schemes were problematic.
"It's not to say there can't be significant benefits for local communities including traditional owners where biodiversity projects take place," Professor Lyons said.
"But in principle, I think there are really fundamental problems with the idea that we can do harm somewhere and clean it up somewhere else if the harm that we're doing is driving biodiversity loss and climate change, which fossil fuel projects — including gas projects — do.
"The idea that we can engage in activities somewhere that are absolutely devastating in terms of their impacts in terms of both biodiversity loss and climate change impacts, and that somehow activities elsewhere can clean up that mess — that to me is the problem we have."
Melbourne Climate Futures senior research fellow Lily O'Neill said it was "laudable" Santos was working with traditional owners on conserving their land.
However, she said research had identified broad problems with how most biodiversity offset schemes operated in Australia.
"Also, and this is crucial, it's hard to prove that the parcel of land that you're improving or protecting, wouldn't have been made better anyway, even without the offset scheme," Dr O'Neill said.
In a statement, Queensland Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said the government was reviewing its offsets framework.
"Any project proposal has to go through a rigorous assessment process by the independent environment regulator in Queensland, and in many instances federal reviews as well," Ms Scanlon said.
"If a proposal progresses further, then the proponent must work with Department of Environment and Science to avoid and then mitigate any impacts as much as possible, and only after that can offsets be considered."
