Biodiversity protection offsets in the Northern Territory – the Ichthys LNG story
Ben W. Davis A * and Christopher J. Carle AA INPEX Operations Australia Pty Ltd, Perth, WA, Australia.
The APPEA Journal 62 S243-S245 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21194
Accepted: 28 February 2022 Published: 13 May 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.
Abstract
Protection of land and sea country in the Northern Territory (NT) for biodiversity offsets is difficult. Land tenure, competing management priorities and a lack of data mean securing land for conventional offsets, especially for long-term projects, is problematic for potential offset scenarios. Despite these challenges, the INPEX-led Ichthys Joint Venture is required to protect an area of land and sea country in the NT to offset the perceived impacts to the environment of the Ichthys LNG energy development. The requirement stems from the Commonwealth Government Approval EPBC 2008/4208 Conditions 11(b) and 11(c); and relates to the development of Ichthys LNG at Bladin Point and associated dredging activities. Numerous attempts have been made by INPEX, on behalf of its Ichthys Joint Venture participants, to meet these offset requirements, spanning a 10-year history and involving multiple stakeholders. Many lessons have been learnt along this journey, and this paper aims to shed light on INPEX’s attempts to find practical solutions to these challenges. Recently, the Commonwealth Government accepted a novel industry approach put forward by INPEX to work with Aboriginal Traditional Owners to protect and manage country for future generations. If successful, it is expected to deliver positive outcomes beyond the environment it protects.
Keywords: Aboriginal, Aboriginal Land, biodiversity, conservation, conservation management, energy, environment, Ichthys Joint Venture, INPEX, land and sea country, management, Northern Territory, offsets, protection, tenure, Traditional Owners.
Ben Davis is a Senior Environment Advisor at INPEX Operations Australia Pty Ltd, with over a decade of industry experience. Ben graduated from Murdoch University with a BSc (Honours First Class) in 2011, majoring in Marine Science and Environmental Management. Ben’s technical expertise is focused on State/Territory and Federal environmental approvals, licensing and permitting, writing and implementing environmental impact assessment and management plans, field scientific operations and environmental offsets. In his current role, Ben maintains environmental compliance for Ichthys LNG and implements the INPEX-led Ichthys Joint Venture multi-million-dollar environmental offsets program. |
Christopher (Jamie) Carle is the Environment Support Team Lead at INPEX Operations Australia Pty Ltd. Jamie has a Master’s Degree in Resource Management and a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Management (Lincoln University, NZ) with 15 years of environmental management experience in the natural resource management and major infrastructure sectors. During his career, Jamie has managed diverse teams of consultants, scientists, modellers, engineers, SHEQ advisors, and complex workforces of contractors and subcontractors on major oil and gas development projects to deliver on critical project needs. This includes strategic planning and management of major capital dredging campaign (16 Mm3) to deepen and lengthen Darwin Harbour (Australia), which won two Australian Environmental Excellence Awards in 2014. In his role, Jamie also manages the environmental monitoring commitments for the operations phase (onshore and offshore) and is responsible for delivering on the multi-million-dollar, long-term environmental offset programs on behalf of INPEX-led Ichthys LNG. |
References
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