Biodiversity offsets: how to improve environmental records and governance?

Abstract

Biodiversity offsets require ecological equivalence between losses due to project impacts and gains expected from offsets. In this article, we provide an overview of recent practices in the design of ecological compensation based on the analysis of eighty-five derogation requests from the ban on the destruction of protected species submitted in 2009 and 2010 to the French National Council for the Protection of Nature (Conseil national de protection de la nature,CNPN). To do this, we drew up an analysis grid to compare all the files. This grid does not require expert knowledge and can be used for any type of environmental study, applicable to various biodiversity components. This analysis highlights several weaknesses in the design of offsets for impacts on protected species of fauna and flora. Building on our observations, we suggest ways for improving offset design and discuss governance mechanisms for implementing them in the compliance process.