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Biodiversity banking is distinct from biodiversity offsets, though they are closely related. [[Biodiversity offsetting|Biodiversity offsets]] are measurable [[Conservation biology|conservation]] outcomes that result from actions to compensate for the significant negative impacts of development projects, once appropriate measures to avoid or minimise these impacts have been taken.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-06-29 |title=BBOP Glossary |url=https://www.forest-trends.org/publications/bbop-glossary/ |access-date=2024-07-16 |website=Forest Trends |language=en-US}}</ref> Biodiversity offsetting and biodiversity banking are commonly applied with the goal of achieving no net loss of biodiversity, or more ambitiously, a net gain of biodiversity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biodiversity offsets |url=https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/biodiversity-offsets |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=www.iucn.org |language=en}}</ref>
Biodiversity banking is distinct from biodiversity offsets, though they are closely related. [[Biodiversity offsetting|Biodiversity offsets]] are measurable [[Conservation biology|conservation]] outcomes that result from actions to compensate for the significant negative impacts of development projects, once appropriate measures to avoid or minimise these impacts have been taken.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-06-29 |title=BBOP Glossary |url=https://www.forest-trends.org/publications/bbop-glossary/ |access-date=2024-07-16 |website=Forest Trends |language=en-US}}</ref> Biodiversity offsetting and biodiversity banking are commonly applied with the goal of achieving no net loss of biodiversity, or more ambitiously, a net gain of biodiversity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biodiversity offsets |url=https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/biodiversity-offsets |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=www.iucn.org |language=en}}</ref>


Biodiversity banking generally turns offsets into assets that can be stored or traded, through the creation of [[Biodiversity Impact Credit|biodiversity credits]] that quantify the value of projects undertaken to [[Ecological restoration|restore]], create, or enhance biodiversity in advance of a development and away from its potential site.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2010-08-10 |title=Report: "The use of market-based instruments for biodiversity protection" |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/meq.2010.08321eaf.001 |journal=Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal |volume=21 |issue=5 |doi=10.1108/meq.2010.08321eaf.001 |issn=1477-7835}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=Conservation and Ecosystem Services in the New biodiversity Economy |title=CESINE Biodiversity Offsetting Policy Brief No. 1. |url=https://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/files/research/projects/biodiversityeconomy/policybrief1.pdf |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=Department of Geography, University of Cambridge}}</ref> The sites where these projects are carried out are referred as banks.<ref name=":02" /> While more than 100 countries have developed requirements for biodiversity offsetting,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bull |first=Joseph William |last2=Strange |first2=Niels |date=2018-11-23 |title=The global extent of biodiversity offset implementation under no net loss policies |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0176-z |journal=Nature Sustainability |language=en |volume=1 |issue=12 |pages=790–798 |doi=10.1038/s41893-018-0176-z |issn=2398-9629}}</ref> frameworks for biodiversity banking are less widespread.
Biodiversity banking generally turns offsets into assets that can be stored or traded, through the creation of [[Biodiversity Impact Credit|biodiversity credits]] that quantify the value of projects undertaken to [[Ecological restoration|restore]], create, or enhance biodiversity in advance of a development and away from its potential site.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2010-08-10 |title=Report: "The use of market-based instruments for biodiversity protection" |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/meq.2010.08321eaf.001 |journal=Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal |volume=21 |issue=5 |doi=10.1108/meq.2010.08321eaf.001 |issn=1477-7835}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=Conservation and Ecosystem Services in the New biodiversity Economy |title=CESINE Biodiversity Offsetting Policy Brief No. 1. |url=https://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/files/research/projects/biodiversityeconomy/policybrief1.pdf |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=Department of Geography, University of Cambridge}}</ref> The sites where these projects are carried out are referred to as banks.<ref name=":02" /> While more than 100 countries have developed requirements for biodiversity offsetting,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bull |first=Joseph William |last2=Strange |first2=Niels |date=2018-11-23 |title=The global extent of biodiversity offset implementation under no net loss policies |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-018-0176-z |journal=Nature Sustainability |language=en |volume=1 |issue=12 |pages=790–798 |doi=10.1038/s41893-018-0176-z |issn=2398-9629}}</ref> frameworks for biodiversity banking are less widespread.


The terms used to describe biodiversity banking differ according to the biodiversity that the system aims to conserve. For example, habitat banking, species banking, [[conservation banking]], and [[mitigation banking]] are forms of biodiversity banking.<ref name=":1" />
The terms used to describe biodiversity banking differ according to the biodiversity that the system aims to conserve. For example, habitat banking, species banking, [[conservation banking]], and [[mitigation banking]] are forms of biodiversity banking.<ref name=":1" />
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== Colombia ==
== Colombia ==
In the form of habitat banks ([[Spanish language|Spanish]]: ''los bancos de hábitat''), biodiversity banking has been implemented in Colombia since 2016, when the first habitat banks were piloted there.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2023-05-11 |title=Policy brief {{!}} Habitat banking in Colombia: Preserving biodiversity and creating economic opportunities |url=https://www.biofin.org/knowledge-product/policy-brief-habitat-banking-colombia-preserving-biodiversity-and-creating |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=BIOFIN |language=en}}</ref> By August 2022, at least 10 habitat banks had been registered in the country.<ref name=":0" /> A desire to address the deficit in funds to implement the National Biodiversity Strategy was a motivation for promoting the development of habitat banks in the country.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Quinchía |first=Alejandra Zapata |date=2024-07-15 |title=En Támesis, un predio ganadero se convirtió en banco de hábitat: hogar de fauna en vía de extinción |url=https://www.elcolombiano.com/negocios/el-globo-un-predio-ganadero-en-tamesis-antioquia-se-convirtio-en-banco-de-habitat-KG24996581 |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=www.elcolombiano.com |language=es-ES}}</ref>
Biodiversity banking has been implemented in Colombia since 2017, when the first habitat banks were registered there.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2023-05-11 |title=Policy brief {{!}} Habitat banking in Colombia: Preserving biodiversity and creating economic opportunities |url=https://www.biofin.org/knowledge-product/policy-brief-habitat-banking-colombia-preserving-biodiversity-and-creating |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=BIOFIN |language=en}}</ref> Habitat banking is allowed as a mechanism for [[biodiversity offsetting]] through the purchase of biodiversity credits from habitat banks.<ref name=":0" /> The sale of these credits is used to fund conservation and restoration activities at the habitat bank for at least 30 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UPDATE – Colombian habitat bank sells out biodiversity credits « Carbon Pulse |url=https://carbon-pulse.com/207500/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-GB}}</ref>


The first habitat bank to be established in Colombia was the El Meta Habitat Bank.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Unlocking Nature’s Value in Colombia: Innovating Market Mechanisms to Protect Biodiversity |url=https://partnershipsforforests.com/resources/unlocking-natures-value-in-colombia-innovating-market-mechanisms-to-protect-biodiversity/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=Partnerships For Forests |language=en-GB}}</ref> The bank had been issued 600 biodiversity credits, all of which have since been sold.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UPDATE – Colombian habitat bank sells out biodiversity credits « Carbon Pulse |url=https://carbon-pulse.com/207500/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-GB}}</ref> By August 2023, 14 habitat banks had been registered in the country, according to ''[[Cambio (magazine)|Cambio]]'', a Colombia-based magazine.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cambio |first=Colombia |date=2023-08-23 |title=Terrasos: “Colombia cuenta con alternativas de financiación de la biodiversidad innovadoras y visionarias” |url=https://cambiocolombia.com/contenido-especial/terrasos-colombia-cuenta-con-alternativas-de-financiacion-de-la-biodiversidad |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=Cambio Colombia}}</ref>
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The regulations were released by the [[Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (Colombia)|Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development]] in June 2017 under Resolution No. 1051 and updated in 2018 by Resolution No. 256.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible |date=2018 |title=BANCOS DE HÁBITAT - Mecanismo para la implementación de compensaciones bióticas |url=https://www.minambiente.gov.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Compensaciones-Gui%CC%81a-Bancos-de-Ha%CC%81bitat.pdf |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=minambiente.gov}}</ref> Habitat banking is allowed as a mechanism for offsetting. Each biodiversity credit is worth 1 hectare of restored land in a habitat bank.<ref name=":0" />

⚫
The [[Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (Colombia)|Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development]] released habitat banking regulations in June 2017 under Resolution No. 1051.<ref name=":2" /> These were updated in 2018 with Resolution No. 256 that requires the use of a mitigation hierarchy (a sequence of measures meant to be applied in order to compensate for adverse impacts on the environment) to direct the use of habitat banking and other [[environmental mitigation]] measures.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible |date=2018 |title=BANCOS DE HÁBITAT - Mecanismo para la implementación de compensaciones bióticas |url=https://www.minambiente.gov.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Compensaciones-Gui%CC%81a-Bancos-de-Ha%CC%81bitat.pdf |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=minambiente.gov}}</ref>

It is thought that habitat banks could be used as a way to fund achievement of conservation goals (such as the National Biodiversity Strategy) while providing income and jobs for land owners and local communities.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Quinchía |first=Alejandra Zapata |date=2024-07-15 |title=En Támesis, un predio ganadero se convirtió en banco de hábitat: hogar de fauna en vía de extinción |url=https://www.elcolombiano.com/negocios/el-globo-un-predio-ganadero-en-tamesis-antioquia-se-convirtio-en-banco-de-habitat-KG24996581 |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=www.elcolombiano.com |language=es-ES}}</ref>


== See also ==
== See also ==

Revision as of 10:10, 6 August 2024

Biodiversity banking, also known as biodiversity trading, conservation banking, mitigation banking,[1] habitat banking, compensatory habitat,[1] or set-asides,[1] describes a market-based framework for biodiversity offsetting where offsets can be traded in the form of credits to offset negative environmental impacts of development projects or activities. This involves biodiversity banks, areas with biodiversity value.[2] On the site of a biodiversity bank, conservation activities may be carried out to preserve, restore, enhance, or conserve biodiversity.[3][4] The outcomes of projects carried out at biodiversity banks are valued in the form of credits, which can be purchased as a way to offset unavoidable adverse environmental impacts, often with the aim of achieving no net loss of biodiversity.[5]

Biodiversity banking emerged from wetland mitigation banking in the United States, beginning in the 1980s and arising from the no net loss policies developed with the Clean Water Act in the 1970s.[6] Since then the concept has been extended, including its application to the bond market.[7][8]

The terms used to describe biodiversity banking are dependent on the focus of conservation aims and the policies of the country or region in which it is applied.[9] Some of the countries where biodiversity banking has been implemented include the United States, Australia, Canada, Brazil, and Colombia.[10]

Terminology

Biodiversity banking is distinct from biodiversity offsets, though they are closely related. Biodiversity offsets are measurable conservation outcomes that result from actions to compensate for the significant negative impacts of development projects, once appropriate measures to avoid or minimise these impacts have been taken.[11] Biodiversity offsetting and biodiversity banking are commonly applied with the goal of achieving no net loss of biodiversity, or more ambitiously, a net gain of biodiversity.[12]

Biodiversity banking generally turns offsets into assets that can be stored or traded, through the creation of biodiversity credits that quantify the value of projects undertaken to restore, create, or enhance biodiversity in advance of a development and away from its potential site.[13][14] The sites where these projects are carried out are referred to as banks.[14] While more than 100 countries have developed requirements for biodiversity offsetting,[15] frameworks for biodiversity banking are less widespread.

The terms used to describe biodiversity banking differ according to the biodiversity that the system aims to conserve. For example, habitat banking, species banking, conservation banking, and mitigation banking are forms of biodiversity banking.[9]

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.[16]

United States

In the United States 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 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 US Army Corps of Engineers regulations [17] 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.[18]

Compensation for impacts to a stream riparian zone 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.[citation needed]

Australia

Two biodiversity banking schemes operating in Australia are the New South Wales BioBanking scheme,[19] which commenced in 2008, and the Victorian Native Vegetation Management Framework 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.

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 (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 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.[20]

In 2019, Ontario-based regional conservation biology charity, Carolinian Canada Coalition launched a pilot model for the Conservation Impact Bond, a financial tool which pays for actions to increase biodiversity.[21]

Colombia

Biodiversity banking has been implemented in Colombia since 2017, when the first habitat banks were registered there.[22] Habitat banking is allowed as a mechanism for biodiversity offsetting through the purchase of biodiversity credits from habitat banks.[22] The sale of these credits is used to fund conservation and restoration activities at the habitat bank for at least 30 years.[23]

The first habitat bank to be established in Colombia was the El Meta Habitat Bank.[24] The bank had been issued 600 biodiversity credits, all of which have since been sold.[25] By August 2023, 14 habitat banks had been registered in the country, according to Cambio, a Colombia-based magazine.[26]

The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development released habitat banking regulations in June 2017 under Resolution No. 1051.[27] These were updated in 2018 with Resolution No. 256 that requires the use of a mitigation hierarchy (a sequence of measures meant to be applied in order to compensate for adverse impacts on the environment) to direct the use of habitat banking and other environmental mitigation measures.[27]

It is thought that habitat banks could be used as a way to fund achievement of conservation goals (such as the National Biodiversity Strategy) while providing income and jobs for land owners and local communities.[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Gibbons, Philip; Lindenmayer, David (2007). "Offsets for land clearing: No net loss or the tail wagging the dog?". Ecological Management and Restoration. 8 (1): 26–31. Bibcode:2007EcoMR...8...26G. doi:10.1111/j.1442-8903.2007.00328.x.
  2. ^ "A Guide to Biodiversity Banking | Ecology by Design". | Ecology by Design. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  3. ^ Mackie, Harriet (5 February 2024). "Habitat Banks - Definition, Creation and List of Types". Gaia. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  4. ^ US EPA, OW (16 June 2015). "Mitigation Banks under CWA Section 404". www.epa.gov. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  5. ^ Kumaraswamy, S.; Udayakumar, M. (1 June 2011). "Biodiversity banking: a strategic conservation mechanism". Biodiversity and Conservation. 20 (6): 1155–1165. doi:10.1007/s10531-011-0020-5. ISSN 1572-9710.
  6. ^ "Biodiversity Banking: A Primer". Ecosystem Marketplace. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  7. ^ Sullivan, Sian (2018). "Bonding nature(s)?: Funds, financiers and values at the impact investing edge in environmental conservation". In Bracking, S.; Fredriksen, A.; Sullivan, S.; Woodhouse, P. (eds.). Valuing Development, Environment and Conservation: Creating Values That Matter. Routledge Explorations in Development Studies. pp. 99–121. doi:10.4324/9781315113463-6. ISBN 9781315113463.
  8. ^ Thompson, Benjamin S. (2023). "Impact investing in biodiversity conservation with bonds: An analysis of financial and environmental risk". Business Strategy and the Environment. 32 (1): 353–368. doi:10.1002/bse.3135. ISSN 0964-4733.
  9. ^ a b Froger, Géraldine; Ménard, Sophie; Méral, Philippe (1 October 2015). "Towards a comparative and critical analysis of biodiversity banks". Ecosystem Services. 15: 152–161. doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.11.018. ISSN 2212-0416.
  10. ^ "Biodiversity Banking: A Primer". Ecosystem Marketplace. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
  11. ^ "BBOP Glossary". Forest Trends. 29 June 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Biodiversity offsets". www.iucn.org. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Report: "The use of market-based instruments for biodiversity protection"". Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal. 21 (5). 10 August 2010. doi:10.1108/meq.2010.08321eaf.001. ISSN 1477-7835.
  14. ^ a b Conservation and Ecosystem Services in the New biodiversity Economy. "CESINE Biodiversity Offsetting Policy Brief No. 1" (PDF). Department of Geography, University of Cambridge. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  15. ^ Bull, Joseph William; Strange, Niels (23 November 2018). "The global extent of biodiversity offset implementation under no net loss policies". Nature Sustainability. 1 (12): 790–798. doi:10.1038/s41893-018-0176-z. ISSN 2398-9629.
  16. ^ Delestrac, Denis and Feydel, Sandrine (directors) (2015). Banking Nature (in English and French). Icarus Films.
  17. ^ ten Kate, Kerry; Bishop, J.; Bayon, R. (2004). Biodiversity offsets, views, experience and the business case (PDF) (Report). International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland, and Insight Investment, London. ISBN 2-8317-0854-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  18. ^ Pawliczek, Jamie; Sullivan, Sian (2011). "Conservation and concealment in SpeciesBanking.com, US: an analysis of neoliberal performance in the species offsetting industry" (PDF). Environmental Conservation. 38 (4): 435–444. Bibcode:2011EnvCo..38..435P. doi:10.1017/S0376892911000518. S2CID 53476246.
  19. ^ Biodiversity Banking and Offsets Scheme (BioBanking) environment.nsw.gov.au
  20. ^ Habib, Thomas J.; Farr, Daniel R.; Schneider, Richard R.; Boutin, Stan (2013). "Economic and Ecological Outcomes of Flexible Biodiversity Offset Systems" (PDF). Conservation Biology. 27 (6): 1313–23. Bibcode:2013ConBi..27.1313H. doi:10.1111/cobi.12098. PMID 23869724. S2CID 43377681. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 January 2015.
  21. ^ Arjaliès, Diane-Laure; Aguanno, Michelina (23 November 2021). The Deshkan Ziibi Conservation Impact Bond Project: On Conservation Finance, Decolonization, and Community-Based Participatory Research (Report). doi:10.5206/101121ipib.
  22. ^ a b "Policy brief | Habitat banking in Colombia: Preserving biodiversity and creating economic opportunities". BIOFIN. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  23. ^ "UPDATE – Colombian habitat bank sells out biodiversity credits « Carbon Pulse". Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  24. ^ "Unlocking Nature's Value in Colombia: Innovating Market Mechanisms to Protect Biodiversity". Partnerships For Forests. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  25. ^ "UPDATE – Colombian habitat bank sells out biodiversity credits « Carbon Pulse". Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  26. ^ Cambio, Colombia (23 August 2023). "Terrasos: "Colombia cuenta con alternativas de financiación de la biodiversidad innovadoras y visionarias"". Cambio Colombia. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
  27. ^ a b Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible (2018). "BANCOS DE HÁBITAT - Mecanismo para la implementación de compensaciones bióticas" (PDF). minambiente.gov. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  28. ^ Quinchía, Alejandra Zapata (15 July 2024). "En Támesis, un predio ganadero se convirtió en banco de hábitat: hogar de fauna en vía de extinción". www.elcolombiano.com (in European Spanish). Retrieved 25 July 2024.

Further reading

  • Bayon, Ricardo; Fox, Jessica; Carroll, Nathaniel (2007). Conservation and Biodiversity Banking A Guide to Setting Up and Running Biodiversity Credit Trading Systems. Environmental market insights. London: Earthscan. ISBN 978-1-84407-471-6. OCLC 163617799.
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