Lessons learned from developing offsets in the Brigalow Belt of Queensland

Origin Energy—on behalf of the Australia Pacific LNG Project, the upstream tenures for which occupy some 570,000 ha—has established an offsets project in the Brigalow Belt of Queensland. This belt of Acacia woodland runs between the tropical rainforest of the coast and the semi-arid interior of Queensland, and is one of 15 bio-regions in Queensland. Its reduction to less than 8% of its distribution makes it a significant part of Australia's natural environment. The offsets project has the aim of re-establishing areas of Brigalow and associated vegetation communities and fauna habitats for impacts on matters of federal or state significance. This should result in a long-term reduction in environmental impacts. Given the long-term decline in Queensland's biodiversity, such work is vital and its associated challenges—such as gaining long-term access to and protection of appropriate land, comparatively new and evolving regulatory requirements and, at times, working on the edge of scientific knowledge—requires persistence and innovation. This extended abstract presents valuable lessons learned to help inform future offsetting projects.