Investing in Nature's Capital - Cassinia Environmental

The Challenge & The Partner:
Securing Australia’s Natural Future

Australia stands at a critical juncture. The imperative to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation has never been more urgent. This challenge, however, presents a significant investment opportunity: to take a lead in protecting our future while restoring and protecting our natural capital, yielding both environmental and economic returns.

Cassinia is a pioneering Australian organisation at the forefront of developing and implementing market-based solutions for large-scale landscape restoration, biodiversity protection, and sustainable land management. With a team of 50+ and a proven 20-year track record, Cassinia has demonstrated an ability to deliver both profound environmental impact and consistent financial performance.

34k+

hectares protected/restored (since 2005)

6.5m+

trees established

1.5m+

tonnes of CO2 sequestered

The Cassinia Proposition

Verified Impact, Sustainable Returns & Evolving Strategy

Cassinia is Victoria’s largest conservation covenanting organisation and through its spin-off company Wilderlands, was the world’s No.1 voluntary biodiversity credit developer in 2024.

Cassinia has been a profitable-every-year enterprise for over two decades, with an annual cashflow approaching $20m.

The group’s AssetCo financial model projects a Cash Flows to Equity IRR of 29.7% and a Project Cash Flows (Post Costs) IRR of 20.2% for its growth initiatives.

A Trusted Partner: Victoria’s BushBank Program

A key indicator of Cassinia’s capacity and trusted position is our role as the sole delivery partner for the Victorian Government’s $30.8 million BushBank program. This unprecedented investment highlights the confidence placed in our ability to deliver landscape-scale restoration projects effectively and reliably.

Strategic Evolution: Integrated Landscape Model

Cassinia’s evolving strategy views landscapes as integrated systems, often dedicating approximately one-third to nature conservation, complemented by agricultural and commercial forestry activities making up the other two-thirds.

This flexible model adapts to specific land classes, allowing for optimised environmental and economic outcomes across the portfolio. Upfront carbon revenue, enhanced by a premium for biodiversity-rich plantings, plays a key role in underwriting land acquisitions. This is supported by long-term (e.g., 10-year) biodiversity offset contracts on existing assets, ensuring solid, predictable annual cash flow.

Cassinia Group Company Divisions

Cassinia Environmental:

Biodiversity Offsets (Compliance)

Carbon Project Development

Cassinia Property:

Real Estate

Wilderlands

Voluntary Biodiversity Credits

The Green Bond Opportunity: A Scalable Program for Landscape Transformation

We propose a partnership with Leading Financial Institutions to launch an initial $200 Million Green Bond Program, as a cornerstone for a larger vision. This program, potentially issued in tranches, will directly finance a portfolio of high-impact projects across Australia.

Generating high-integrity biodiversity credits and upfront carbon revenue with biodiversity premiums.
Developing sustainable commercial forestry alongside regenerative agriculture.
Restoring vital ecosystems and securing long-term conservation outcomes.
Delivering attractive, fixed-income returns for investors.

This initiative offers a unique opportunity to channel significant private capital into tangible environmental assets, meeting growing investor demand and leveraging immediate strategic opportunities.

Investment Focus: A Diversified Portfolio of
Nature-Based Assets

Through the Green Bond Program, Cassinia will channel investments into an integrated approach, focusing on distinct yet synergistic pillars critical for Australia’s environmental and economic resilience.

1. Nature Conservation & Biodiversity Credits

Acquiring and managing high-conservation-value land (approx. 1/3 of landscape focus), establishing conservation covenants and actively managing habitats. Revenue streams include: premium voluntary biodiversity credits (e.g., Wilderlands BDUs) and long-term (10-year) compliance biodiversity offset contracts, providing stable cash flow and protecting irreplaceable natural heritage.

A significant 78% of native vegetation on private land in Victoria is threatened or rare, highlighting the critical role of Cassinia’s conservation efforts.

Wilderlands (a Cassinia entity) BDU sales show strong initial traction with ambitious growth targets underpinned by long-term management.

2. Carbon Sequestration and
Commercial Forestry

Large-scale revegetation for biodiversity plantings yielding upfront carbon revenue with a premium, significantly underwriting land purchases. A substantial commercial forestry component adds further carbon sequestration over a longer time frame (extending models by ~15 years) and provides diversified revenue, with potential exit strategies around year 10-12 focusing on combined agriculture and forestry value.

3. Sustainable Agriculture

Integrating regenerative agricultural practices within the landscape model, including regenerative wool and wattle seed production. This pillar focuses on nature-positive food production, enhancing soil health, and creating additional biodiversity co-benefits, contributing to diversified regional economies.

Australia’s Largest Wattle Seed Farm:
This venture demonstrates innovation in sustainable agriculture, aiming for 100 tonne annual harvest by 2030 with $5m deployment for R&D and scaling.

Financial Strength and Asset Performance

20.2%

Overall Asset Return IRR (Project, Post Costs – AssetCo)

5.6x

Average Interest Cover Ratio (ICR – AssetCo)

2.78%

Minimum Interest Cover Ratio (ICR – 2037 – AssetCo)

Cassinia’s integrated landscape strategy is underpinned by robust financial projections. The focus is on overall asset base returns, demonstrating a strong capacity to service debt, such as the proposed Green Bond, and deliver value. Upfront carbon revenue and long-term biodiversity contracts further enhance financial stability.

The revenue mix illustrates contributions from biodiversity offsets, carbon rights and agriculture/other income streams.

Total operating cashflows are projected for substantial growth, supported by diversified income including long-term contracts and upfront payments, ensuring strong debt service capacity.

Future Opportunities & Ambitious Scalability

Cassinia is poised for significant growth, with a clear strategy for large-scale capital deployment and impact. The Green Bond program is key to unlocking this potential.

$100M

Target Deployment in
Next 2-3 Years

$1B

Target Deployment
Over 10 Years

Immediate Strategic Imperative: Government-Backed Contracts

Cassinia has a very specific, time-sensitive opportunity to secure a number of very large contracts backed by the government within the next 12 months. An in-principle agreement on finance, such as this Green Bond program, would substantially enhance the probability of realising these significant, foundational contracts.

Illustrative Capital Structure

A typical project funded under the Green Bond Program might feature senior debt (Green Bond) for primary capital, Cassinia/partner equity to align interests, and potentially grants or concessional finance. Current AssetCo average gearing is projected at ~30%, with total gearing at ~47%. This Green Bond would be structured to align with prudent financial management.

A Trusted Partner in Victoria’s Nature Restoration Program

A major delivery partner to the Victorian Government’s BushBank public-private restoration platform, Cassinia manages the largest area of permanently protected private land in the state. We oversee co-funded biodiversity and carbon projects on behalf of philanthropy, carbon buyers, and impact investors.