The Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Authority (CMA) is offering land managers in the Murrumbidgee EcoTender II Project area funding for up to fifteen years, for the opportunity to conserve and enhance threatened and endangered native vegetation communities.

The Murrumbidgee EcoTender II Project will assist land managers to set up an environmental conservation enterprise on their property through an environmental tender process.

The following native vegetation communities are a feature of the landscape in the Murrumbidgee EcoTender II Project area. These native vegetation communities have altered through land use change and invasion of plant and animal pest species.

The following native vegetation communities have been identified by the Murrumbidgee CMA as priorities for improved management and conservation, and include legislative listings from the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 and the NSW Fisheries Management Act 1994.

• Buloke Woodlands of Riverina and Murray-Darling Depression Bioregions
• Inland Grey Box Woodland
• Montane Peatlands and Swamps / Alpine Sphagnum Bogs and Associated Fens
• Myall Woodlands in the Cobar Peneplain, Murray-Darling Depression, Riverina and NSW South Western Slopes
• Bioregions / Weeping Myall Woodlands
• Natural Temperate Grassland of the Southern Tablelands
• Riparian and wetland areas of the Aquatic Ecological Community in the Natural Drainage System of the Lower Murray River catchment
• Upland Wetlands of the Monaro Plateau (South Eastern Highlands Bioregion); and
• White Box Yellow Box Blakely’s Red Gum Woodland

Participating in this environmental tender gives you the opportunity to be paid for providing management services that lead to improvements in the condition and extent of these priority native vegetation communities on your land.

The Murrumbidgee CMA, using competitive market based approaches is seeking:

• Improved habitat condition in the quality of the listed endangered native vegetation communities
• Protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage values, including native vegetation, habitat and sites
• Protection of intact high quality remnant native vegetation
• Increased extent of the priority native vegetation communities through regeneration and / or new planting
• Increased linkages between remnant native vegetation and / or improved buffers around remnant native vegetation; and
• Increased long term security for native vegetation on privately managed land
• Land managers are best placed to understand the management actions they can implement to improve the condition and extent of one or more of the priority native vegetation communities on their land, and to determine the price that they would wish to receive in order to provide these services as an alternative to traditional uses of the sites.

Through a tender process the Murrumbidgee CMA will engage land managers in long-term (up to 15 years or in perpetuity) contracts to manage these environmental assets. This will ensure that land managers have secure funding and allowing for a time frame in line with that required to achieve enduring environmental outcomes.

Applications have been extended to November 20, 2009.