In Australia, the Victorian State Government has just revealed a deal with the US-owned Hancock Victorian Plantations to pay $5.5 million to protect 20,000 ha of native forest in the Strzelecki Ranges.
The ink is hardly dry on the agreement announced by Environment Minister Gavin Jennings and Hancock CEO Linda Sewell, so there hasn't been time to analyse it in detail - but at first reading it looks interesting. The community will need to look at it closely to see if it is likely to achieve the level of biodiversity protection required. 

One slightly disturbing point is that Ms Sewell refers to the arrangement as an 'in principle agreement' with a final agreement expected to be signed around July.

The company's track record in honouring non-binding agreements is hardly inspiring. It signed an 8 point agreement, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding, it signed a Heads of Agreement - all did nothing to boost biodiversity outcomes. The previous $7 million buy-back deal between the Government, Hancock and the community,  was in limbo for over 18 months. The same fate may await  this 'agreement'.

We'll need to see the details but we hope that this works.