Unlocking Private Investment to Build Landscape-Scale Resilience

Australia’s landscapes are under mounting pressure. Native habitats are functioning at a fraction of their original ecological capacity, more than 2,000 species are threatened, and climate extremes are intensifying across our farming regions. River systems, soil health, and biodiversity are in steady decline - yet significant pools of capital earmarked for environmental outcomes still remain under-utilised.

We've been asking how we can better connect public and private capital with the landholders and communities who manage our landscapes every day, and we believe the Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENs) model offers a potentially compelling answer.

What is LENs?

LENs is a collaborative investment model that connects corporates, governments, investors and farmers to co-fund projects that enhance the health, productivity, and resilience of shared landscapes.

Unlike credit schemes, LENs generates value through measured improvements in biodiversity, soil health, water security, and carbon outcomes. Its robust Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) framework provides the transparency and accountability that policymakers and corporate funders increasingly demand.

International results demonstrate LENs’ potential:

• $50M AUD equivalent of funding provided in the past 5 years to farmers for implementing nature-based solutions on their land.

• Soil degradation: average increase of 1.83 t/ha of soil organic carbon, strengthening productivity and resilience.

• Water security and quality: 14 kg/ha reduction in nitrogen run-off, reducing harmful substances entering rivers.

• Climate mitigation: more than 49,000 tonnes of CO₂e reduced or removed in one year, equivalent to the 100-year sequestration of 140 hectares of new woodland.

• Biodiversity: over 73 hectares of new habitat created or restored in five years, with measurable increases in species richness.

These outcomes are only possible when industry, public agencies, corporates, and communities align around shared landscape priorities.

Pre-Feasibility Assessment for LENs in Australia

SEAOAK recently partnered with the government to undertake a pre-feasibility assessment for bringing the LENs model to Australia. The team looked at how the LENs model aligned with government priorities, how it interacted with or complemented Australia's existing environmental markets, and how the UK-developed model might need to be adapted to better suit an Australian landscape and market. 

The pre-feasibility assessment is due to be completed at the end of September.

Why Australia Needs LENs

Australia is in the midst of a profound policy shift. The Nature Repair Market Act, the Australian Carbon Credit Units Scheme (ACCUs), and state-based biodiversity markets are reshaping how we value and invest in natural capital. Corporates, meanwhile, are under pressure to meet Scope 3 emissions targets, respond to TNFD recommendations, and strengthen supply chain resilience in the face of climate volatility. LENs complements and strengthens these agendas by:

• Delivering genuine outcomes: moving beyond offsetting to fund conservation, restoration, and regenerative agriculture.

• Mobilising private capital: pooling corporate investment with government funds to reduce reliance on grants and subsidies.

• Providing confidence: through transparent MRV systems that align with international standards such as the GHG Protocol and SBTi.

• Supporting farmers: with flexible, upfront incentives to implement regenerative practices, reducing financial risk in transition.

The Corporate Advantage

For corporates and agribusinesses, LENs represents a new form of risk management and value creation. By investing in the landscapes they depend on, businesses can:

• Secure supply chains: stabilising yields and reducing the costs of climate-related disruptions.

• Report with credibility: LENs provides verified data on biodiversity, carbon, water, and soil health aligned with global disclosure frameworks.

• Achieve Scope 3 progress: supporting both carbon removals and emissions reductions within value chains.

• Maximise impact per dollar: the LENs pooled funding model reduces cost per tonne of carbon and per hectare of biodiversity restoration by stacking multiple benefits.

The Policy Advantage

For government and regulators, LENs provides a replicable framework to:

• Accelerate uptake of regenerative agriculture and nature-positive land management.

• Leverage corporate capital to reduce the burden on public funding.

• Strengthen governance by embedding transparency, accountability, and measurable outcomes.

• Support regional economies by integrating ecological restoration with agricultural productivity.

• Create pathways for Aboriginal-led cultural and economic participation in landscape stewardship.

A Blueprint for National Action

Australia has a unique opportunity to lead globally in landscape-scale, nature-positive investment. By piloting LENs in regions with strong agricultural industries and corporate anchors, we can create a replicable model that simultaneously delivers environmental resilience, economic productivity, and corporate ESG outcomes.

At SEAOAK Consulting, our mission is to drive sustainability and resilience across Australia’s agricultural industry and supply chains. LENs offers the mechanism to align policy ambition with corporate action—unlocking investment that regenerates landscapes, reduces risk, and builds shared value for business, government, and community. Because when landscapes thrive, rural/regional industries and communities do too.

Overcoming Systemic Barriers to Collaboration for Impact at Scale

While Australia has no shortage of initiatives aimed at restoring landscapes, true high impact collaboration across the private, public, NGO and not-for-profit sectors remains rare. The barriers appear to be systemic:

• Competition for funding: Many NGOs, NFPs and government organisations compete for the same funding pools and grants, making collaboration difficult.

• Territoriality and duplication: Organisations often protect their “patch” to secure visibility and funding, which can fragment delivery and dilute impact.

• Values and culture gaps: For-profit and not-for-profit organisations can struggle to align. Businesses may prioritise measurable return on investment, while community groups emphasise social or ecological outcomes that resist quantification.

• Short-termism: Government grants and corporate ESG programs often fund discrete projects with narrow timelines, undermining the sustained effort needed for landscape-scale change.

The LENs model offers a way through these systemic barriers. By pooling funding around shared outcomes, it shifts the dynamic from competition to co-investment. Transparent MRV frameworks ensure that all parties—government, corporates, NGOs, and communities—can see their contributions translated into measurable impact. Crucially, LENs reframes collaboration not as a “nice to have” but as a requirement for achieving results at scale: no single actor can regenerate landscapes alone.

For SEAOAK Consulting, the real promise of LENs is not just a new funding mechanism, but an innovative nature-based solutions model that brings farmers and corporates together around the same table—often for the first time—to collaborate across sectors that have traditionally worked in silos.

Interested in learning more about Landscape Enterprise Networks (LENs) and how SEAOAK is collaborating with the public and private sector to bring the LENs model to Australian landscapes? We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with:

Ebony Greaves 

CEO, SEAOAK Consulting

ebony@seaoakconsulting.com.au

Carli Davis

CSO, SEAOAK Consulting

carli@seaoakconsulting.com.au