Biodiversity banking, also known as

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

trading or conservation banking, biodiversity mitigation banks, compensatory habitat, set-asides, biodiversity offsets, are

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

activities that compensate for the

loss of biodiversity Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, de ...

with the goal of biodiversity maintenance through a framework which allows biodiversity to be reliably measured, and market based solutions applied to improving biodiversity. Biodiversity banking provides a means to place a

monetary value In economics, economic value is a measure of the benefit provided by a good or service to an economic agent. It is generally measured through units of currency, and the interpretation is therefore "what is the maximum amount of money a speci ...

ecosystem services Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Such ecosystems include, for example, agroecosystems, forest ecosystem, grassland ecosystems, and aquatic ecosystems. ...

. Typically this involves land protection, restoration, an/or enhancement. Biodiversity banking is often applied so that there is no "net loss of a particular biodiversity feature." According to the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

, by 2004, interest in voluntary biodiversity offsets was growing in the United States, Brazil, Australia, Canada and the EU. Experience suggested that industry, governments, local communities and conservation groups all benefit from biodiversity offsets or biodiversity banking.

Terminology

According to the IUCN, " odiversity offsets are designed to compensate for residual

environmental damage Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defin ...

caused by development after avoidance, minimization, and mitigation of environmental impacts have been considered and implemented. The goal of offsets is to compensate for the loss of biodiversity at one location with conservation gains elsewhere."

In practice

In practice, biodiversity banks rely on existing governmental laws, which forbid companies or individuals of buying up land in an area that houses, say a critically endangered species. An exception is also in place in this governmental law which allows companies to buy up the land nonetheless, if they also buy a certain amount of compensation credits with a certified biodiversity bank. These credits, which represent a significant extra cost to the company, are then used to provide revenue for the biodiversity bank, but the revenue derived thereof is also used by the bank to buy up conservation area elsewhere for the endangered species.

United States

In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

a "mitigation banking" process applies to impacts on wetlands. It requires that developers firstly avoid harm to wetlands, but if harm is considered unavoidable, then

wetland habitat A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

of similar function and values must be "protected, enhanced or restored" to compensate for those that will be damaged. The process comes under the US Clean Water Act 1972, the

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regulations and the commitment to "no net loss" of wetlands habitat. Since about 2000, the term "species banking", sometimes called "conservation banking", has applied to impacts on species of special concern, typically those that are listed by state and federal agencies under the U.S. Endangered Species Act or its state-based equivalent. Similar to wetlands banks, conservation banks are designed as compensation for impacts to listed species or their habitat, ensuring a similar no net loss policy for these biodiversity resources. Compensation for impacts to a stream

riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...

may also be required in relation to the linear distance of lost stream functions resulting from stream bank structures (e.g., concrete or rip rap), sedimentation, channelization, dredging or similar activities.

Australia

Two biodiversity banking schemes operating in Australia are the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

BioBanking scheme,Biodiversity Banking and Offsets Scheme (BioBanking)
environment.nsw.gov.au which commenced in 2008, and the Victorian

Native Vegetation Management Framework The ''Native Vegetation Management: A Framework for action 2002'' is a Victorian strategy which aims to protect, enhance and revegetate Victoria's native vegetation. The Framework's main goal is to "achieve a reversal, across the entire landscape o ...

scheme. Both schemes apply particularly to developers, where biodiversity values will be reduced through land clearing and building development. The framework requires developers to source biodiversity credits through a market mechanism to offset

biodiversity loss Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, de ...

. Listed species, critical habitat, wetlands and stream habitat are all components of biodiversity ecosystem services. Taken collectively, they may be referred to as "biodiversity banks".

Canada

In Alberta, Canada,

Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI) is an agency that monitors and reports on biodiversity status throughout the province of Alberta, Canada, that is funded equally by the government of Alberta and the oil and gas industry. The Albert ...

(ABMI) researchers use the oil sands industry of Alberta as a case study in their paper in which they evaluated the commonly used and costly ecological equivalency-based biodiversity offset in terms of economic and ecological performance with more flexible alternative offset systems. They used ABMI's "empirically derived index of biodiversity intactness to link offsets with losses incurred by development." They evaluated ecologically equivalent areas in regards to vegetation types and regional conservation priorities such as the recovery of the

boreal woodland caribou The boreal woodland caribou (''Rangifer tarandus caribou''; but subject to a recent taxonomic revision. See Reindeer: taxonomy), also known as woodland caribou, boreal forest caribou and forest-dwelling caribou, is a North American subspecies of ...

and the Dry Mixedwood natural subregion in the oil sands region. They found that flexible alternative systems like the priority-focused offsetting networks, cost 2-17 times less than the ecological equivalency-based biodiversity offset vegetation cost 2–17 times more than priority-focused networks.

References

External links

List of biodiversity banking companies and initiatives

NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change

* ttp://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/saturday/stories/s1526634.htm ABC Saturday Extra Biodiversity banking part one
ABC Saturday Extra Biodiversity banking part two

DEFRA definition and discussion of biodiversity offsetting

Conservation Banking profile on database of Market Governance Mechanisms
{{sustainability Nature conservation in Australia Biodiversity