Biodiversity credit tenders frequently asked questions

Biodiversity credit tenders are a type of reverse-auction. You can offer to sell your biodiversity credits at your preferred price.

We use a reverse-auction to ensure we get value-for-money biodiversity credits.

Developers can choose to pay into the Biodiversity Conservation Fund. When they do, they transfer their offset obligations to us. We then work to secure the required biodiversity offsets often by buying credits off credit owners.

We secure biodiversity offsets by following the offset rules set out in section 6.3 of the Biodiversity Conservation Regulation 2017.

We aim to buy enough biodiversity credits to meet our obligations.

The details of the credits we are looking for are listed in the Wanted Credits List on our credit offer portal.

All bids are assessed by an evaluation panel. The panel considers a range of factors to ensure value-for-money, including:

• Bid price – how the price compares with market information for the credit class.
• Number of credits offered – the total quantity of credits you are offering for sale.
• Credit supply – the current availability of credits for the credit class.
• Market activity – the level of trading activity for the credit class.
• Holding period – the length of time offset obligations for the credit class have been held.

More information is available in the Participants Guide available from the Credit tenders webpage.

Wanted Credits List

The credit types and the number of credits we are looking for are listed in the Wanted Credits List on the credit offer portal.

The list is published at least one week before a tender opens.

How to apply

You must first register to use the credit offer portal. After registering, complete and submit the online application form.

For detailed instructions, read the credit offer portal user guide.

Credit classes

A credit class is the type of biodiversity credit. Your bid will not be valid if it lists the wrong credit class.

Credit class details are shown on:

• the Biodiversity Assessment Metric (BAM) biodiversity credit report or biodiversity credit ownership report, or
• for BioBanking Assessment Methodology (BBAM) credits, on the statement of reasonable equivalence.

If you have not yet established a Biodiversity Stewardship Agreement, the credit classes expected to be created are listed in the Business Case or Biodiversity Stewardship Site Assessment Report (BSSAR).

Credit classes are either ecosystem credits or species credits.

Ecosystem credits are defined by:

• Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) subregion
• Plant Community Type (PCT) ID
• Offset Trading Group (OTG)
• Hollow-bearing trees (HBT)

Examples:

• Ellerston subregion, PCT 622, Coastal Valley Grassy Woodlands ≥50% and <70% cleared, Hollow-bearing trees present
• Yengo subregion, PCT 1237, Blue Gum High Forest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion, Hollow-bearing trees absent

Species credits are defined by:

• Species name
• IBRA subregion

Example:

• Phascolarctos cinereus (Koala) in Upper Hunter subregion

It may result in you submitting an invalid bid.

You must enter all four credit class attributes that match your credits for your bid to be eligible.

There is an exception for Threatened Ecological Community credits, which is outlined in the participants guide available on our credit tenders page.

Setting your bid price

The price you choose to sell your credits is a commercial decision. You should consider factors such as:

• Costs of producing credits (for example, site management, establishment, and opportunity costs)
• The return on investment you are seeking
• Current credit market conditions

Your bid price must also cover the relevant proportion of the Total Fund Deposit required for a Biodiversity Stewardship Agreement (BSA). Details are in the participants guide on the relevant tender page. We will reject bids that do not meet these requirements.

Credit owners may seek help from a trusted advisor (e.g. accredited assessor). when setting a price. We cannot provide specific advice on pricing your credits.

For more information on credit pricing, you can:

• Review the Biodiversity Conservation Fund Charge report
• Read previous Tender outcomes reports
• Check you understand the biodiversity credits market

Yes, you can submit a bid if your proposed agreement is expected to generate credits listed in the Wanted Credits List.

To submit a bid, you will need one of the following:

• a business case
• a draft Biodiversity Stewardship Site Assessment Report (BSSAR)
• a finalised BSSAR submitted to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water (DCCEEW) with a BSA application

Get more information on Securing a buyer for your biodiversity credits.

No. A tender is not open to landholders who only have a feasibility assessment.

Instead, you can apply to sell your biodiversity credits to us at a fixed price.

If you hold BBAM credits, you must have an Assessment of Reasonable Equivalence of Biodiversity Credits (equivalence statement). This shows the equivalent number of BAM credits for each credit type you hold.

Your credit offer application must include a bid price per BAM credit (excluding GST).

Yes. You may redact commercially sensitive information from supporting documents submitted with your bid.

However, redactions must not prevent us from verifying your credit class attributes.

No. You can submit a bid yourself.

You do not need an accredited assessor to complete or submit your bid.

No. You must submit a separate credit offer application for each site.

No. You must submit separate credit offer applications for existing credits and proposed credits.

Make sure proposed credits (those not yet generated on your new or existing site) are submitted as proposed credits so your bid is eligible.

Yes. For example, a credit owner with 100 credits of the same credit class could submit:

• one bid for 40 credits at Price A
• a second bid for 60 credits at Price B.

If by mistake you submit multiple bids for the same credits, we will only consider making an offer for the lowest priced bid.

Send an email to offsets@bct.nsw.gov.au and include:

• a brief description of your issue,
• your phone number, and
• screenshots of the issue if relevant.

Once a tender bid is submitted, you cannot make major changes.

You can:

• reduce the number of credits in your bid
• withdraw your bid entirely.

Late bids are unlikely to be accepted and are considered at our discretion.

We will only consider a late bid if we are satisfied that it does not affect the integrity or competitiveness of the tender process.

No. Bids are non-binding. You may:

• pursue other opportunities
• decline our offer
• opt out of the tender process at any time

If the biodiversity credits in your bid are committed or sold before the assessment process is complete, you must inform us immediately.

There are several ways to sell your biodiversity credits listed on our website. These include:

• future biodiversity credit tenders
• opportunities to sell your credits at a fixed price we set

You may also choose to sell your credits to other purchasers in the market.

More information is available on understanding the biodiversity credits market.