Ngā Kairauhī Papa | Forever protected
Financial support for people doing good biodiversity work is a great concept, and QEII is watching with interest to see how work to develop and expand a biodiversity credit market (or markets) in Aotearoa New Zealand progresses.
The policy for what is now being referred to as a ‘Voluntary Nature Credits Market’ (VNCM) is still in the very early stages of development. Based on the information that has been publicised to date, no Government decisions have been made yet on what the regulated policy setting of a VNCM would be (or even if there would be any).
We’ve been increasingly getting questions from covenantors about biodiversity credit markets generally, and how work on the VNCM relates to conservation and covenanting land. Below, we cover some of the most frequently asked questions.
Biodiversity credit markets are a financial mechanism that allows for the trading of biodiversity conservation efforts. These markets facilitate the buying and selling of biodiversity credits, where entities can sometimes offset their environmental impact (although that is not being proposed in New Zealand) or enhance their sustainability credentials by purchasing credits generated from conservation or restoration projects. These projects typically involve the preservation or enhancement of habitats, species, and ecosystem services.
The purpose of biodiversity credit markets is to create economic incentives for the conservation and sustainable management of ecosystems, aligning environmental goals with business interests.
In July 2023, the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) released a discussion paper seeking public input on the possibility of work by the government to facilitate development of a biodiversity credit market in New Zealand. The public consultation on biodiversity credit markets showed strong support for such a system.
Then on 12 June 2025 at the Agricultural Fieldays, Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard announced the Government’s intention to support the expansion of a Voluntary Nature Credits Market (VNCM) in New Zealand.
The Government has published a summary of the government’s role in a future VNCM and a set of integrity principles intended for use when reviewing and approving project standards for voluntary credits.
It proposes that the standards that projects must meet in order to be eligible will be set by the “Private sector” – organisations that ‘package’ and sell the credits from biodiversity projects – but that government would “support” the setting of standards (see diagram below).
A series of pilot projects are now underway to test the possible different roles the government might play in the market.
We don’t know.
The design of the market is still being worked through.
QEII National Trust is, like many of our covenantors and land managers, keen to understand more about any new system – and the rules and administration expectations on suppliers of potential credits.
There are also questions to be answered about the eligibility of certain projects to participate in the system. In a QEII context, the big unknowns are around the principle of ‘additionality’ and the role of covenanting as a means of ensuring ‘durability’ of biodiversity outcomes.
We were commissioned to provide some advice to MfE as part of their work on the issue of “permanence and durability” in a biodiversity credit market and to try to understand what interest there might be among our constituents (mostly farmers) about participating in a biodiversity credit market as a “supplier” of credits. We will endeavour to stay as close to policy development as possible, while maintaining our independence and neutrality.
We don’t have any additional information about how the VNCM policy will look, other than what has been publicly stated. We will continue to advocate for biodiversity credit market policy that best caters to QEII covenantors and potential future covenantors.
QEII is very focused on supporting our existing covenantors to continue the great work that has already been going on for nearly 50 years and as things become a bit clearer, we will see if there is a further role for QEII to play in a world with biodiversity credits – in a way that supports covenantors.
We will keep landowners and supporters informed about QEII’s position on these matters when there are opportunities to do so.
