This layer identifies lands of high conservation value suitable for investment in conservation through a range of mechanisms. This could be achieved through mechanisms such as voluntary acquisition as formal reserves under the National Parks & Wildlife Act or State and Regional Parks under the Crown Lands Act. Areas not available or suitable to be added to the state reserve system may be protected as informal reserves through various measures including protective covenants, council zonings, council conservation incentive schemes, biobanking, or conservation agreements.

The guiding policy document for the Biodiversity Investment Layer is the draft Protected Area Establishment Strategy which sets priorities and targets for the establishment of a protected area network that encompasses formal reservation of public lands and conservation agreements and plans for private conservation initiatives.

The draft Protected Area Establishment Strategy is in turn underpinned by a range of national and state government policy documents and guiding principles including the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment, the National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity, the National Forest Policy Statement (NFPS), the National Reserve System Directions Statement, The Australian Natural Heritage and Burra Charters and the JANIS criteria.

The Biodiversity Investment Layer has been developed using a range of data developed largely for regional scale analyses such as the Comprehensive Regional Assessments (around 1997-2000). While these data are relevant and provide a strategic view of the landscape at a regional scale, they would require refinement for property level assessments.

The layer does not attempt to map comprehensively all lands of biodiversity significance, rather maps lands which are more suitable for management as conservation areas.