Our impacts on Nature aren’t pretty

Identifying our impacts on Nature can be hard. Taking responsibility, reporting transparently, and assuming accountability for those impacts can be harder.

I am leading the University of Sydney in their engagement with the TNFD and Nature Market whilst managing biodiversity at all owned and leased locations. I have created environmental accounts for Accounting for Nature to provide co-benefits to potential Carbon Credit plantings, such as those with Canopy and Greening Australia, and baselines for TNFD reporting. I am guiding the university in how we can manage what appear to be competing priorities at our farms and campus locations, and demonstrate that they do not need to compete and can compliment and enhance each other, using my extensive expertise in ecology and land use.

After 20 years as an ecologist, with experience across diverse ecosystems and land use types, from marine parks and rural farms to heavily developed urban landscapes, I am an expert in understanding the environment and how our behaviours, land management practices and supply chains are disrupting normal ecosystem function. Additionally, my upbringing on a farm equips me with a thorough understanding of agricultural practices and environmental challenges.

In this rapidly changing environment, I am also an expert in identifying Nature risks and vulnerabilities, such as those presented by extreme bushfire and flooding events, and more insidious risks such as rising salinity from water table disruptions.

My years as an academic, publishing work and providing access to the data collected and analytical techniques used to determine the significance of that work demonstrates my integrity and commitment to transparency.

Working at the forefront of Nature and Business, I am an active member of the TNFD Forum and the Nature Positive Pledge. I am engaged in not only developing transparent reporting on business impacts on Nature and alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, but providing accountability and more importantly Next Steps to mitigating those impacts and improving those impacts.