Catchment - Applying Accredited Approaches to Protect Your Impact

Each site is independently verified by a Victorian Government-accredited Habitat Hectare Assessor through on-ground assessments. These assessments use geo-referenced plots which, together with site-specific biodiversity surveys, provide an overall measure of biodiversity condition and improvement. Plots are reassessed at a minimum of five-year intervals, with additional surveys undertaken where required to monitor threatened species.

From the initial assessment, an overall habitat score is established for each site. Catchment then prepares a science-based, action-focused management report outlining how the site’s score will be improved over defined time periods. Progress is verified through further independent assessor reports.

All stewardship funds received are allocated immediately to a dedicated, interest-earning stewardship fund. Payments from this fund are released in accordance with the management report, or upon further approval from the project’s independent assessor and Catchment’s board if ecological circumstances change. This process safeguards the integrity of each biodiversity unit.

Each Catchment biodiversity unit is retired for a period of 25 years once allocated and cannot be resold. Full transparency of ownership is provided through independent mapping using the Mapbox™ platform.

Catchment is a not-for-profit conservation organisation. One hundred percent of funds received are applied directly to projects, with operating costs covered through expert volunteer support or by separate donations.

All sites must have, or be working towards, permanent protection in place, such as covenants with Trust for Nature or other legally secured, government-recognised mechanisms.

A portion of funding may be retained for strategic purposes that include land acquisition to enhance a site’s habitat corridors or capital works such as major ecological restoration or bushfire recovery.

A percentage of each sale is also allocated to Traditional Owner partners to support On-Country projects.

As additional protection, if any project, after repeated interventions, does not meet our ongoing improvement criteria, funding to that site will cease. Or, if specific project funds exceed a site’s requirements, they too are allocated to other approved conservation project sites to continue ecological works, further safeguarding your legacy payment.

The platform is also available, at no fee, to not-for-profit groups working in highly threatened landscapes. In these cases, Catchment passes through 100% of funds received to the project. Applications are open for eligible groups.