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Environmental Offsets

Environmental offsets in the ACT establish protected areas, compensate for unavoidable significant impacts on Matters of National Environmental Significance (MNES) from development, support research and monitoring projects, and conserve other natural and cultural values.

The Environmental Offsets Register provides information on offsets in the ACT as required under the Planning Act 2023.

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) helps protect threatened species and habitat through compensation for developmental impacts.

The ACT Environmental Offsets Policy provides rules to help protect important natural areas and valuable resources. It aims to avoid harming places that are crucial for conservation and ensures that if we lose any ecological areas or habitats, we make sure to gain similar benefits elsewhere.

The ACT Government offsets team leads a large monitoring program across the ACT, including offset areas, and collaborate on significant research programs concerning key species, ecological communities and threatening processes.

Strategic assessments

Strategic assessments are landscape scale assessments which, unlike individual projects, consider a broad set of issues. For example, a large urban growth area that will be developed over many years or a fire management policy across a broad landscape.

Find out more about strategic assessments under the EPBC Act on the Australian Government's Environment website.

Gungahlin Strategic Assessment Conserving Box-Gum Grassy Woodland, and habitat for the Golden Sun Moth, Striped Legless Lizard and Superb Parrot.
Molonglo Valley Strategic Assessment Conserving Box-gum grassy woodland and Natural Temperate Grassland, and habitat for the Pink-tailed Worm-lizard and Superb Parrot.
West Belconnen Strategic Assessment The West Belconnen Strategic Assessment balances urban development with conservation of Natural Temperate Grassland, the Golden Sun Moth and the Superb Parrot.

Individual projects

Individual projects are individual offset sites established on a project-by-project basis which, unlike strategic assessments, focus on individual actions, for example, construction of a residential estate or hospital.

Bonner Offset Area Conserving Box-gum grassy woodland and Golden Sun Moth habitat.
Budjan Galindji Offset Area Conserving Natural Temperate Grassland.
Isaacs Ridge Offset Area Isaacs Ridge Offset Area protects Box-Gum Grassy Woodland, providing connectivity between other Nature Reserves and valuable habitat for many other species.
Justice Robert Hope Park Offset Area Conserving Box-gum grassy woodland and Regent Honeyeater habitat.
Mulanggari and Gungaderra Offset Areas Conserving Striped Legless Lizard and Golden Sun Moth habitat.
The Pinnacle Offset Area The Pinnacle Offset Area protects Box-Gum Grassy Woodland, the Pink-tailed Worm-lizard and the Superb Parrot and provides valuable habitat for many other species.