Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENs) in Australia
Gloucester (Hunter) Region, NSW
Carbon Abatement
Status: In progress
Project Lead (National LENs Operator): SEAOAK Consulting
Project Partners: Macka's Australian Black Angus Beef, 3Keel/ LENS, MidCoast Council, NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment & Water (DCCEEW)
Timelines (Stage One):
Jan - Jun 2026: Stakeholder engagement and consultation
Jul - Dec 2026: Program and landscape outcomes co-design
Jan - Jun 2027: Contracting
Jun 2027 > LENs Trades (on the ground landscape interventions)
Funding (Stage One): This project is supported by the NSW Government through a Low Carbon Landscapes grant, delivered under the Primary Industries Productivity and Abatement Program within the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Program Outcomes (Stage One):
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Explore opportunities for high quality landscape-scale carbon abatement across the NSW Gloucester and Hunter region
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Develop project concepts to the point they are able to secure investment to commence on-ground implementation across at least 88,786 hectares and with estimated carbon abatement of at least 500,000 tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) over 25 years
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Develop a comprehensive case study outlining the approach, outcomes and impact, challenges and recommendations for future LENs implementations in Australia
LENs is a globally leading natural capital model developed by UK-based sustainability advisory firm 3Keel in 2021. The model brings together farmers, businesses, supply-chain partners, financial institutions, and government to co-invest in shared environmental outcomes at a whole-of-landscape scale.
Since its launch, LENs programs have channelled over $50 million in payments to farmers, expanded to seven regions across Europe, and engaged 350 farms and 16 funding partners, including global companies such as Nestlé and Diageo. These partners collaborate to co-invest and deliver measurable environmental improvements while strengthening the resilience of agricultural production systems and regional economies.
While environmental markets such as carbon, biodiversity and nature repair offer growing opportunity, many Australian farmers face barriers to participation including high transaction costs, administrative and methodology complexity, scale requirements and exposure to market risk. These markets often remain inaccessible to farmers who are managing land responsibly but lack the capital, time, resources or scale to engage individually.
LENs offers an innovative and fundamentally different approach that has already proved successful across Europe. Rather than requiring farmers to navigate complex environmental markets project by project, LENs operates at a whole of region scale, aggregating nature-based actions across landscapes. This collective model reduces risk and transaction costs while creating a straightforward pathway for farmers to be paid for implementing practical, on-farm solutions that deliver measurable environmental outcomes.
In 2024, the model supported the reduction or removal of almost 50,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide - equivalent to taking 12,000 cars off the road for a year. In 2025, 67,700 hectares of nature-based solutions were funded through LENs trades.
Through an Australian partnership, SEAOAK will lead the establishment and operation of LENs initiatives across Australia, working closely with the central LENs team to tailor the European model to Australian landscapes, markets, farming systems, and environmental priorities.