We assess opportunities and challenges for Australia’s Indigenous estate associated with existing and emerging Nature-based Solutions markets. The Indigenous estate covers 57% of the Australian land mass, but most is ineligible for existing funding streams. Currently proposed schemes focus on repair and restoration of degraded land. Little market opportunity currently exists to support equally important stewardship projects on less-degraded lands and seas. We outline conditions for incentivising evolution toward schemes that engage with a holistic view of country and culture.

This article belongs to the Collection Carbon and Environmental Service Markets.

Rangeland ecosystems are superficially attractive locations for low-cost carbon sequestration, but the variability in these systems creates integrity problems for carbon offsets. We use remotely sensed imagery to analyse 116 Australian Human-induced Regeneration Projects, and find most projects are non-compliant with regulatory requirements and that they have had minimal impact on tree cover. The findings point to major failings in Australia’s carbon offset scheme and extend the literature showing offset schemes are frequently plagued by integrity issues.

This article belongs to the Collection Carbon and Environmental Service Markets.

Land-use changes through carbon farming in Australia have the potential to deliver significant environmental, economic, social and cultural benefits to regional areas, especially in the rangelands. We review current initiatives related to carbon co-benefits in Australia, identifying over 20 separate schemes with distinct governance arrangements. Our findings point to the significant potential and value of carbon co-benefits in Australia; but nationwide policy frameworks must support this by harmonising approaches, standardising units and measures, and localising implementation strategies.

This article belongs to the Collection Carbon and Environmental Service Markets.

If the supposed soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil inorganic carbon (SIC) trade-off exists, then grazing practices that increase SOC will decrease SIC which may have unintended impacts on carbon sequestration. We found no effect of grazing treatments on SIC and no evidence that grazing-induced SOC accrual was associated with SIC loss. Our findings support the interpretation that SIC stocks (mass per unit area) are stable and unaffected by grazing and grazing-induced SOC accrual, at least over the short term (5 years).

This article belongs to the Collection Carbon and Environmental Service Markets.

Predicting long-term soil carbon changes in rangelands requires understanding of the ecological potential and current state of the land. Although weather can cause short-term fluctuations within the ecological state, it is not reliable for long-term predictions. Instead, vegetation type and behaviour are better indicators of ecological state and can be easily measured through existing technology. This information can be used to develop a system for both monitoring soil carbon and guiding land management decisions.

This article belongs to the Collection Carbon and Environmental Service Markets.

Increasing the carbon stored in soils is promoted as a technology to mitigate climate change, but the potential for sequestration (long-term storage) in the vast area of rangelands is debated. Our review of research in Australia’s rangelands found few field or modelling studies with robust data on soil carbon sequestration linked to new management. We conclude that the potential for sequestration is likely modest and present recommendations to increase confidence in management strategies for climate change benefits and sustainable productivity.

This article belongs to the Collection Carbon and Environmental Service Markets.

Since 2012, the Australian Government has provided carbon credits to landholders for burning tropical savannas in the early dry season when most fires have lower intensity and lower greenhouse-gas emissions than do late dry-season wildfires. Air pollution across the northern half of the Northern Territory has worsened following implementation of these projects, exacerbated by intense fires from drier fuels associated with climate change. To avoid maladaptation, savanna burning carbon abatement must be carefully designed and monitored.

This article belongs to the Collection Carbon and environmental service markets.

As Australia’s rangelands host increasing investment in land restoration for carbon abatement, opportunities and tensions are emerging where carbon abatement projects do and do not align with regional objectives. We outline an approach to understand regional contexts to support the negotiation of land restoration investments that provide co-benefits that align with community aspirations and transition pathways. We show that regional conditions shape the extent to which communities can take on and access valuable co-benefits associated with land restoration for carbon abatement.

This article belongs to the Collection Carbon and environmental service markets.

Recently, many carbon and ecosystem service markets have been initiated in grazing lands and rangelands worldwide. This study, based on in depth interviews with 34 stakeholders, has provided insights into the opportunities and constraints related to environmental service market policy. We recommend an approach that incorporates the concepts of multi-stakeholder participation and roundtables, which have been advocated as a more effective way to manage wicked policy problems that span financial, regulatory, agricultural, and other systems.

This article belongs to the Collection Carbon and environmental service markets.