Review of the Environmental Stewardship Program

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In 2007, the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) (now referred to as the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (DSEWPaC)) established the Environmental Stewardship Program (ESP). In 2008 the Program was announced as part of the Caring for our Country initiative, to be delivered through joint arrangements between DEWHA and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. The purpose of the program is to contract private land managers to undertake management practices to maintain and improve the condition and extent of targeted high public value environmental assets on private land. Targeted assets are matters of National Environmental Significance (NES) as listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

The ESP has been delivered via a competitive 'reverse auction' market based instrument mechanism, whereby land managers compete for Government funding to undertake conservation management actions on their land. The key rationale for this type of approach is that it enables the Government to maximise the conservation benefits purchased under agreements within a given budget constraint - i.e. it ensures value for money.

Marsden Jacob Associates (MJA) was engaged by DSEWPaC to undertake a review of the effectiveness and efficiency of the ESP. The review involved a detailed review of relevant documentation, analysis of program data provided by DSEWPaC and a series of semi-structured interviews with experts involved in the design and implementation of the program.