A University of Newcastle researcher is taking on one of Australia's most pressing environmental challenges by developing a groundbreaking tool to guide the nation's rapidly expanding $137 billion biodiversity market.
The $530,000 mission to restore Australia's forests
Conservation ecologist Dr Brooke Williams has been awarded a substantial $530,000 grant through the Australian Research Council's early career researcher awards. Her mission focuses on creating a sophisticated tool that identifies the most effective land for forest restoration to combat both climate change and the biodiversity crisis.
"There is no humanity without forests," Dr Williams emphasised, highlighting the critical role forests play in hosting countless species and their relatively faster carbon sequestration rates compared to other ecosystems.
Navigating Australia's massive environmental markets
The scale of the opportunity and challenge is enormous. Australia's current carbon market is valued at $1.1 billion, while the biodiversity market has been projected to reach a staggering $137 billion by 2050.
"In Australia and globally, forest-based carbon and biodiversity markets are expanding, but they're relatively unregulated," Dr Williams noted, pointing to the urgent need for scientific guidance in this rapidly growing sector.
Her research aims to prevent negative unintended consequences, such as agriculture being pushed into vulnerable areas, while ensuring these markets deliver genuine environmental benefits.
Timely intervention amid legislative changes
The research comes at a critical moment for Australian environmental policy. The recent passing of changes to Australia's environmental laws has raised concerns among experts.
Dr Williams stated that the new legislation "falls short of what's needed to halt Australia's biodiversity crisis." This view was echoed by Biodiversity Council representative Brendan Wintle, who warned that the laws contain "far too much ministerial discretion and way too many loopholes."
Dr Williams stressed that now represents "an important moment for Australia's biodiversity" and that science must inform the path forward to prevent further forest loss.
Natural regeneration offers powerful solution
Building on her previous research published in Nature, Dr Williams brings expertise in natural forest regeneration. Her earlier work identified that approximately 215 million hectares of land worldwide could be reforested naturally without costly manual planting.
This approach could offset around 23.4 gigatonnes of global carbon emissions over the next three decades - equivalent to about 50 years of Australia's carbon emissions.
With 65 percent of tropical forests already lost to human development, Dr Williams emphasised that "recognising the massive regeneration capacity of tropical forests is key" to addressing both climate and biodiversity challenges.
The tool developed through this research will not only guide restoration strategies in Australia's environmental markets but also inform international expansion, ensuring that massive financial investments in environmental solutions deliver tangible benefits for the planet.
