Biodiversity offsets

Development projects worldwide are increasingly required to quantify and fully mitigate their impacts on biodiversity, with an objective of achieving ‘no net loss’ or a ‘net gain’ (NNL/NG) of biodiversity overall. Seeking NNL/NG outcomes can affect people because society relies on, uses and values biodiversity.

This guide aims to assist companies, which are interested in transforming their operations to meet today’s widely-accepted global goals for biodiversity and sustainable development. It reflects input from numerous IUCN colleagues, partners and experts, who are actively engaged in on-site biodiversity management.

This study compares compensation approaches taken with respect to impacts on biological diversity in selected countries from four different continents: Africa, Asia, North America, and South America. Background on specific legal and institutional frameworks for each country are elaborated and assumptions for further research are formulated.