Australia has its first-ever benchmark for how much it spends on nature - and the findings show a major shortfall in what’s needed.
The Australian Land Conservation Alliance has launched the Nature Spend Tracker, the first tool to rigorously consolidate federal, state and territory, private and philanthropic funding into a single, repeatable biodiversity spend baseline.
The Tracker reveals that Australia invests just over $1.5 billion per year in nature.
ALCA’s Nature Finance Lead, Mel Cutler, said it’s a fraction of what’s needed.
“Australia requires around $8.3 billion each year just to protect and repair environmental damage – and more for ongoing management.”
“We know that $26.3 billion is spent by the Federal Government annually on biodiversity-harmful subsidies. So our tracker shows that Australia is spending over 17 times more on harming nature than looking after it – and more so when equivalent state government subsidies are considered.”
Developed in partnership with Cyan Ventures, the Tracker shines a light on where nature funding is coming from, how it is being used, and where the gaps lie – which improves transparency, enables trends to be monitored over time, and provides environment organisations, companies and investors with reliable data for planning, partnerships and investment decisions.
It tracks money used for focused and specific nature protection, restoration and management, excluding initiatives where biodiversity may be an indirect or unspecified co-benefit.
Shaun Chau, Managing Partner of Cyan Ventures said that tracking nature spend is complex.
“There’s no standard definition, and data can be patchy. That’s why this Tracker is such a game changer: it brings transparency and consistency to an area that urgently needs both.”
“The findings highlight how far Australia still needs to go to close the nature finance gap.”
“The Tracker shows the public sector accounts for three‑quarters (74%) of Australia’s biodiversity spend, followed by philanthropy (14%) and the private sector (12%).
“Government and philanthropy must continue to scale their support, but the private sector also needs clear pathways to put capital into nature.
“Experience from climate finance globally shows that unlocking private investment is essential if we want to lift total funding to where it needs to be.”
ALCA will continue refining the Tracker through ongoing engagement with government, industry and philanthropic partners to uncover more detailed investment data as it becomes available.
*Includes nature protection – ALCA and its partners estimate a $5b fund, apportioned over five years, is required to deliver the Australian Government’s 30 x 30 nature protection targets (Protecting Australia’s Nature); and nature repair – the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists estimates $7.3b p.a. is required Blueprint to Repair Australia’s Landscapes, July 2024)
** Biodiversity-harmful subsidies in Australia, in Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, Elton et al, 23 March 2025
