<
https://theconversation.com/hecs-for-farmers-nature-repair-loans-could-help-biodiversity-recover-and-boost-farm-productivity-204040>
"Almost three billion hectares of farmland is in poor condition worldwide – an
area the size of Russia. Biodiversity is in freefall. Extinctions are rising.
Wild animal populations have fallen almost 70% since 1970.
Restoring damaged land and bringing back ecosystems is phenomenally expensive,
estimated at A$21 trillion globally.
The sheer scale of the problem is beyond the capacity of traditional approaches
to funding repair. That’s one reason why the Australian government is looking
to alternatives such as a nature repair market. This, the government hopes,
would boost biodiversity – especially on private land such as farms.
To make this market work, the government might consider creating a new version
of Australia’s well-known HECS higher education loans. Call it FECS – Farm
Environment Contribution Scheme.
The lead author of this article, Bruce Chapman, helped create HECS – the
world’s first national income-contingent loan for higher education. Co-author
David Lindemayer, ecologist and conservation biologist, has spent decades
exploring ways to preserve biodiversity on farmland.
We have shown how farmers could access loans similar to HECS but based on
annual revenue, not income to undertake work helping both their business and
restoration of nature. This work will boost farm productivity and biodiversity
with farmers repaying the loan when their revenues permit."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
