Biodiversity Assessment Method Operational Manual
The manual provides operational guidance to assist applicants and accredited assessors to apply the Biodiversity Assessment Method (BAM) and assess a site for biodiversity values for the purposes of:
- a development
- an activity
- clearing
- biodiversity certification
- development of a management plan for land proposed for a biodiversity stewardship agreement.
The manual is set out in 3 stages reflecting the BAM. There are also manuals for other modules in the BAM:
- Stage 1 – Biodiversity assessment – identifies and describes the biodiversity values of the land, such as the types of vegetation, threatened ecological communities, threatened species and their habitat.
- Stage 2 – Impact assessment – describes impacts on biodiversity from development or land clearing, how they will be avoided and minimised and if there are likely to be residual impacts, including potential serious and irreversible impacts.
- Stage 3 – Improving biodiversity values – predicts the gains that may be achieved over 20 years through management activities on a stewardship site.
- Streamlined assessment module planted native vegetation – to assist accredited assessors in applying the Streamlined Assessment Module – Planted Native Vegetation provided in BAM Appendix D.
For survey guides and other resources, see Guides, tools and databases.
Mandatory BSSAR and management plan templates
Biodiversity Stewardship Site Assessment Report (BSSAR) and management plan templates are mandatory and should be used when completing and submitting a biodiversity stewardship agreement application.
Applications will be processed more efficiently when the templates are used and completed correctly. Failure to use the templates or provide sufficient information may result in otherwise avoidable delays.
Request the BSSAR and management plan templates
Biodiversity Offsets and Agreements Management System
The Biodiversity Offsets and Agreements Management System (BOAMS) administers and manages the various steps in the Biodiversity Offsets Scheme. It is used:
- by accredited assessors – to carry out specific BAM-related tasks involving access to the BAM Calculator to perform assessments, submit data and generate credits. Specific BAM tasks can only be carried out by accredited assessors. Access to these areas of Biodiversity Offsets and Agreements Management System is provided after accreditation.
- by landholders – to apply for a Biodiversity Stewardship Agreement and manage ongoing reporting obligations for their agreement
- by proponents of developments – to view their credit obligation
- by local government and other consent authorities – to review and approve BAM assessment information as part of a development assessment
- by the department – to review BAM assessment information to provide advice.
If you are not an accredited assessor and want to register for access to BOAMS you must create an account.
Biodiversity Assessment Method Calculator
The Biodiversity Assessment Method Calculator (BAM Calculator) follows the rules and calculations outlined in the BAM and assists the user in applying them. It is accessible through Biodiversity Offsets and Agreements Management System. It allows accredited assessors to:
- enter field data
- determine the number and class of biodiversity credits
- support preparation of standardised reports
- create and edit cases.
A public version of the BAM Calculator can be accessed and edited by anyone but does not allow users to save their assessment or generate biodiversity credit reports. View public version of the BAM Calculator.
Only accredited assessors and certain other scheme participants can view and print biodiversity credit reports generated through the BAM Calculator in the Biodiversity Offsets and Agreements Management System. If the case party is not already registered, they:
- will need to be added by a support administrator
- can register and access read-only versions via an email link.
View Biodiversity Assessment Method Calculator release notes.
Accessing biodiversity data on NSW BioNet
NSW BioNet is the department's repository for biodiversity data products, providing comprehensive, credible and robust data and information.
When reviewing a threatened species in BioNet, please be aware that changes to the data are not automatically updated in the BAM Calculator. The BAM Calculator data is only updated periodically, but you will be notified about any updates via the Biodiversity Offsets Scheme Updates newsletter and BAM Calculator release notes.
If BioNet data and the calculator data are inconsistent, please use BioNet data in an assessment, as this is considered correct.
For guidance on extracting data from BioNet, please refer to NSW BioNet resources.
This data is the same as currently available through the Threatened Biodiversity Profile Data Collection on SEED.
BioBanking program and Framework for Biodiversity Assessment
To access biodiversity data relevant for BioBanking or the Framework for Biodiversity Assessment, please visit Archived BioNet datasets, Threatened Species Profiles database
The department is no longer updating this data and supporting information. It is likely that the archived data will differ from the current information provided in the BioNet Threatened Biodiversity Data Profiles data collection.
For information about BioBanking Agreements, credits and transactions, visit BioBanking Public Registers.