A study from around the world published in the journal Conservation Science and Practice This guide provides a simple and inexpensive way for fast-growing countries to plan and make decisions to balance economic development with environmental conservation and human welfare.
This study shows how simple analyses based on easily accessible biodiversity data can support the application “mitigation hierarchy”, a tool that helps ensure project developers avoid negative impacts on the environment, minimize and restore any damage, and compensate for any residual effects on nature.
The authors demonstrate how data from Google Earth can be used for mapping the locations of endangered species and ecosystems, identifying areas with important biodiversity that should be avoided and identifying degraded areas where developers could carry out environmental restoration to offset the effects of a project.
“Over 100 countries have or are now creating policies that require developers in order to achieve better biodiversity outcomes, by avoiding and minimising impact and compensating where necessary for residual impacts on wildlife,” Dr. Kendall Jones (conservation planning specialist at Wildlife Conservation Society) said. These policies are missing in many of the most biodiverse areas of the planet, which are also where development frontiers are rapidly eroding natural resources. It is important to apply the mitigation hierarchy in these locations in order to balance local livelihoods and environmental conservation against wider economic development.
These techniques and methods are illustrated using a Mozambique case study. This is a nation that has experienced rapid economic growth over 30 years. This has led to environmental degradation and could have significant impacts in the future. Mozambique recently adopted legislation that requires developers to properly apply the mitigation hierarchy, which includes biodiversity offsets. The study’s findings helped inform the policy development process.
This work was part of the 6-country COMBO+ program, which is funded by the Agence Francaise de Developpement et Fonds Francais pour l’Environnement Mondial. It works with partner governments to improve mitigation policy and practice.
Dr. Hugo Costa, Mozambique’s Wildlife Conservation Society, was an author of the paper. He said that the study provided valuable guidance to fast-developing countries, which often face the problem of rapid development and insufficient data to inform the development of environmental policies.
Dr. Costa stated that “By showing how simple analyses could facilitate application of the mitigation hierarchy, countries like Mozambique,” this paper provides conservationists with the tools to ensure that we are able to achieve national and international biodiversity targets while pursuing economic development goals.
Dr. Costa stressed that the mitigation hierarchy is important for ensuring that local people’s wellbeing is considered in project development.
“This isn’t just about biodiversity. Costa explained that the mitigation hierarchy can be applied with rigour to ensure the wellbeing and well-being of communities. It also allows developers to design measures that include local communities in the solution and improve people’s lives and wellbeing.
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