United H2 Limited is launching H2Gro Limited, which will focus on becoming a biodiversity project developer and environmental investor.
The Company will focus on securing undervalued rural land that is eligible for a Biodiversity Stewardship Agreement (BSA) with the Biodiversity Conservation Trust.
A BSA is a perpetual annual agreement that gives a landholder a yearly maintenance fee per hectare, including improvements to fencing and invasive species management.
BSAs also generate two types of Biodiversity Credits for the landholder:
Ecosystem credits for patches of native vegetation with associated threatened species (weighted price average $2,831).
Species credits for individual threatened species (weighted price average $575).
These credits are liquid through an online platform and are in demand from both developers and local governments. Over $300M of credits have been traded in NSW.
H2Gro plans to maximise the value of the land by implementing carbon farming, biochar production, off-grid property development, and livestock management.
H2Gro’s first projects are based in the Lower Hunter Valley in New South Wales due to its volume of Spotted Gum Ironbark Forest which is classed as a threatened ecosystem with high biodiversity values.