Record before disturbance.
Document the site before clearance, demolition or earthworks. An incomplete or retrospective baseline is labelled honestly.
FOR DEVELOPERS · A PROPOSED PILOTRecord before works.
Record before works.
Verify what grows.
A development changes more than a building. It changes the living ground around it.
The Ecological Registry proposes a lasting record of what was there, what is retained, what is delivered and what establishes. A way to make a garden’s ecological performance visible beyond handover.
The Registry is active. This developer pathway is a proposal for testing with partners. It is not a government-approved standard or a planning approval.
THE MISSING CONTINUITYA plan is a beginning.
A plan is a beginning.
The garden is the outcome.
Garden-area, canopy and vegetation controls already exist. The next step is to connect them to a dated record of the site before development and the living landscape after it.
A drawing cannot establish plant survival, recovering soil or functioning habitat. The proposed pilot would check delivery and establishment, with responsibility for follow-up agreed from the outset.
Existing Victorian context: garden-area requirements and canopy-tree protections. Applicable requirements depend on the site and proposal.
PROPOSED GOVERNING PRINCIPLES · VERSION 0.1Keep what matters.
Keep what matters.
Make the promise testable.
These draft principles will be tested through a pilot and refined with independent input.
Protect existing value first.
Keep mature trees, valuable habitat and soil in view. New planting and extra points cannot automatically compensate for their loss.
Measure against the place.
Use the local ecological community and site constraints. A grassland and a woodland need different reference conditions.
Separate forecast from fact.
A design target, an installed landscape and established ecological function are distinct claims, each with a date and evidence.
Make assessment independent.
Record developer, designer, steward and verifier separately. Test a method that trained assessors can apply consistently.
Plan beyond handover.
Agree who maintains planting, replaces failures, funds reassessment and remedies shortfalls through establishment.
Show contribution and loss.
Report area, retained assets and all five pillars. A higher score alone is not proof of biodiversity net gain or a functioning corridor.
Carry the record forward.
Give the next steward the ecological history and care plan. Publish only agreed information; keep addresses and contact details private.
FROM SITE TO STEWARDSHIPFour checks.
Four checks.
One ecological history.
Before works
Record existing species, layers, canopy, soil and water observations, habitat features and surrounding patches. Identify retained assets and uncertainties.
BASELINE · EXISTING CONDITIONDuring design
Set explicit protection measures, planting and habitat specifications, evidence requirements and establishment targets. Keep future performance clearly labelled.
PROPOSAL · NOT A VERIFIED OUTCOMEAt installation and handover
Inspect what is installed, record departures from the plan and name the responsible caretaker. Young planting is recorded as young planting.
AS BUILT · DELIVERY CHECKAfter establishment
Return at agreed intervals to document survival, actual canopy, habitat and condition. Suggested pilot checks are around 12 and 24 months after planting, with longer monitoring where needed.
FOLLOW-UP · MEASURED CONDITIONFive pillars.
A fuller picture of the ground.
01
Biodiversity structure
Indigenous species, layers and canopy.
02
Soil & water
Documented condition and water function.
03
Habitat complexity
Habitat features and recorded fauna.
04
Connectivity
The garden’s documented landscape context.
05
Evidence & verification
What is known, how it is recorded and who checked it.
The Registry currently uses a 0–100 garden score. Before any regulatory threshold, the developer method needs independent validation, reference-relative benchmarks and protections that cannot be traded for points.
Explore the current scoring methodTHE PATH TO A PUBLIC STANDARDBuild the evidence.
Build the evidence.
Then build the expectation.
Australia’s energy ratings provide a precedent for the process, not an ecological formula to copy.
Research became a usable standard.
Five-star requirements entered the national Building Code in 2006, supported by regulatory analysis. The scheme continued to be evaluated and strengthened. Victoria implemented newer seven-star provisions in May 2024.
Commonwealth five-star history · Victorian seven-star implementation
Start with a measured pilot.
Bring developers, council officers, independent ecologists, research partners and Traditional Owners into method development. Test consistency, outcomes, cost and practical responsibility before seeking policy recognition.
Future planning recognition or disclosure would require the relevant government process. Participation, funding and assessment arrangements will be agreed before a pilot begins.
- Publish and review the method
- Test it on consenting sites
- Evaluate delivery and establishment
- Consider government recognition
DEVELOPERS · COUNCILS · RESEARCH PARTNERSStart with a site.
Start with a site.
Agree how to follow it.
We’re seeking conversations about an independently evaluated Victorian pilot. Ideally, join before works begin so the existing landscape can be recorded.
The pilot scope, fees, targets and assessment arrangements would be agreed with participants.