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June 2, 2010
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The Ecosystem Marketplace's Mitigation Mail
Conservation and Wetland News You Can Bank On
Some big news for biodiversity this month...
First off, delegates from around the world met in Nairobi this month to work out the kinks of the next big ideas for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in meetings of the SBSTTA (Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice to the CBD) and WGRI (Working Group on Review of Implementation of the CBD). Ecosystem Marketplace provided full coverage, with a cheat sheet on the CBD, and another five articles/podcasts covering the big ideas under discussion.
Next, some big announcements: UK’s first 'conservation credit' project, and the first official BioBank in New South Wales, Australia were announced. See summaries of these stories below.
Meetings, meetings… if you missed the US's big National Conference on Mitigation and Ecosystem Banking , Ecosystem Marketplace provided daily summaries on our EKO-ECO.com blog (May 4, May 5 , May 6 ). Coming up in the US is the 3rd Annual Ecosystem Markets Conference in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, June 23-24.
Is anyone attending European Commission's Green Week Conference (June 1-4) focusing on biodiversity and care to summarize big news coming out of that? Would love to hear from you -- just shoot an email to bmadsen[@]ecosystemmarketplace.com.
Are you keen to help shape the next State of Biodiversity Markets Report? Take a quick 5-minute survey that will help us determine the focus and scope of a follow-up report.
Read on for a summary of the latest news related to incentives for biodiversity restoration and conservation.
—The Ecosystem Marketplace Team
If you have comments or would like to submit news stories, write to us at mitmail@ecosystemmarketplace.com. |
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Podcast: Equal Parts Hope and Despair Greet New Financing Mechanisms on International Day of Biodiversity (Loss)
After two weeks of talks designed to reach consensus on scientific
criteria for combating climate change, UN negotiators took a break on
Saturday to commemorate the International Day of Biodiversity -- which
many are calling the Day of Biodiversity Loss. Ecosystem Marketplace
takes stock of the proceedings so far and previews the week ahead.
– Follow it here!
UN LifeWeb Brings Transparency (and, Hopefully, Funding) to Biodiversitye proceedings so far and previews the week ahead.
The UN's Convention on Biological Diversity hasn’t yet developed a mechanism for channeling money to biodiversity hot spots the way the Framework Convention on Climate Change does for carbon emissions, but a new initiative called LifeWeb is providing market-like transparency for environmental aid and funneling millions to biodiversity hot-spots based on the ecosystem services they provide.
– Read more here!
Keeping Track of the Nairobi Biodiversity Talks: a Guide to IISD Coverage
The 1992 Earth Summit spawned three "Rio Conventions" (on biodiversity, climate change, and desertification). With the 20th anniversary just two years away, negotiators in all three Conventions agree they should be more synchronized -- last week at biodiversity talks in Nairobi, and next week at climate-change talks in Bonn. Here's a brief look at coverage to date.
– Read more here!
UN Biodiversity Boss Says Convergence with Carbon Markets Could Turn REDD+ Into Win-Win for Species
In 2002, the United Nations set out 20 targets to halt the decline of
biodiversity by the end of this year -- none of which have been met.
Delegates to UN biodiversity talks in Nairobi are hammering out new
ones, and CBD Executive Secretary Ahmed Djoghlaf tells Ecosystem
Marketplace why he believes this time will be different.
– Read more here!
Biodiversity Boosters Hope to Leverage REDD Momentum at Nairobi Meeting
The UN has declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity, but
the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) remains the poor (and
largely forgotten) sibling to the headline-grabbing climate-change
convention (UNFCCC). Delegates to CBD talks in Nairobi this week and
next are looking at schemes designed to change that, in part by
embedding more biodiversity values in the global carbon market.
– Read more here!
EM Cheat Sheet: The Convention on Biological Diversity
The International Year of Biodiversity is upon us. From events in Paris to Beijing to Vancouver, the world is celebrating the diversity of life on earth. About 1.75 million species have been identified around the globe, and an estimated six times that amount exist (estimates run from 5-100 million). This diversity supplies us with food, fuel, medicines, fiber, construction materials, dyes, and ecosystem services like water and air filtration, climate stabilization, erosion control, and pollination of crops -- major contributions to human well-being.
– Read more here!
Can Markets Protect Nature? An interview with Michael Jenkins, President and CEO of Forest Trends
Forests continue to fall around the world despite billions in conservation funding, largely because our economy values them more dead than alive. Forest Trends (publisher of Ecosystem Marketplace) has been at the forefront of efforts to save forests by recognizing their intrinsic economic value, and earlier this month Forest Trends founder Michael Jenkins shared his philosophy with Rhett Butler of Mongabay.
– Read more here!
On the Blog: Stacking and Regulation Take Center Stage at Mit Banking Conference
Mitigation and Ecosystem Bankers from across the US gathered this week
in Austin, Texas, for the largest meeting of folks involved or
interested in wetland mitigation banking, conservation banking, and
issues at the very cutting edge in the non-carbon market world. Check
out our blog, EKO-ECO.com, for day-by-day coverage of the conference.
– Read more here!
Video Tour of RIBITS Wetland Bank Information Site
For anyone interested in US wetland mitigation banking, the embedded
video below is a tour of the US Army Corps of Engineers 'RIBITS' bank
information tool.
– Read more here!
Online Video of 'State of Biodiversity Markets' Presentation
The embedded video below gives an introduction to biodiversity markets,
biodiversity offset and compensation programs, and what we found in our
research of these programs around the world in our report: 'The State
of Biodiversity Markets: Offset and Compensation Programs Worldwide'
– Read more here!
Events
The 3rd Annual Ecosystem Markets Conference June 23-24, 2010, Raleigh-Durham, NC, USA
Using markets to protect and restore ecosystems -- and the many services they provide -- is gradually becoming a reality. But what are the critical elements for success? What progress has been made? What still needs to be done? What are the remaining challenges?
At this 3rd annual national conference, presented by the American Forest Foundation and World Resources Institute, you will hear from national and regional experts, innovators, and hands-on users of these evolving market models in a dialogue about:
• Recent progress in developing markets
• What transactions can be done now
• Strategies for scaling markets
• How these markets will affect family forests and other landowners
• How state and regional efforts can merge into a common model
Click here for the Agenda
1st Global Business of Biodiversity Symposium: Managing Business Risk, Releasing Opportunity London, England, July 13-14th 2010
The First Global Business of Biodiversity Symposium (GBOB) has been established with the endorsement of the UK Government, the European Union and the Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat. The Global Business of Biodiversity Symposium will be a meeting place for Government, Business and NGOs operating across all industrial sectors. Delegates will gain insight into emerging issues and policy trends linked to the rapid global decline in biodiversity and ecosystem services and their implications for business.
The conference will demonstrate to business how it is impossible to address climate change, water scarcity and human rights without considering biodiversity. It will inform dialogue and debate in the run up to the tenth Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan. It will provide business with the first opportunity to hear the results of, and respond to, the first global review of 'The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity' synthesis for business (TEEB D3).
World Water Week" href="http://www.katoombagroup.org/event_details.php?id=40" >Vietnam: Katoomba XVII - Taking the Lead: Payments for Ecosystem Services in Southeast Asia, June 23-24, 2010, Hanoi, Vietnam
Throughout Southeast Asia, there is increasing regional interest in market-based conservation strategies, including payments for ecosystem services (PES). While a number of projects are underway, PES in the Southeast Asia region primarily occurs on an ad hoc basis through small-scale pilot projects. However, information, capacity to design and manage PES deals, and institutions to support on-the-ground implementation are often lacking and have hindered efforts to scale up.
In response to these questions and challenges, the 2010 South East Asia Katoomba Group meeting offers a unique opportunity to further develop:
• REDD readiness strategies including post-COP15 discussions on national-level REDD systems, international, regional and national experience, investor and other stakeholder engagement, pilot demonstration sites, capacity building / training needs, and research agendas; and
• Payment for Watershed Services
• Payment for Marine Ecosystem services throughout the region, by exploring how climate change adaptation strategies can be complemented by mitigation measures and revenues from carbon credits; and identifying buyers for a range of marine ecosystem services.
• Biodiversity Markets and Market-like Structures
1st Global Business of Biodiversity Symposium: Managing Business Risk, Releasing Opportunity London, England, July 13-14th 2010
The First Global Business of Biodiversity Symposium (GBOB) has been established with the endorsement of the UK Government, the European Union and the Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat. The Global Business of Biodiversity Symposium will be a meeting place for Government, Business and NGOs operating across all industrial sectors. Delegates will gain insight into emerging issues and policy trends linked to the rapid global decline in biodiversity and ecosystem services and their implications for business.
The conference will demonstrate to business how it is impossible to address climate change, water scarcity and human rights without considering biodiversity. It will inform dialogue and debate in the run up to the tenth Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan. It will provide business with the first opportunity to hear the results of, and respond to, the first global review of 'The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity' synthesis for business (TEEB D3).
World Water Week September 5-11Stockholm, Sweden
Tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 10) 18 - 29 October 2010, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
ACES: A Community on Ecosystem Services 2010 Conference December 6-9, 2010 Phoenix, AZ, USA
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Australia: New South Wales Announces its First Official BioBank
NSW PR, Sydney Morning Herald, ABC.net.au, Epoch Times, StreetCorner.com.au (5/17-5/21/2010)
If you’ve heard of the 'BioBanking' scheme in New South Wales (NSW), it may surprise you to know that it has been in pilot phase up until the fall of 2009, and it has only just now announced its first official BioBank. If you’re not familiar with the BioBanking system, here’s a quick description (from NSW’s press release):
"BioBanking is an initiative which seeks to address the decline of biodiversity and threatened plants and animals on private land by giving them an economic value through the creation of biodiversity credits. These credits can then be sold on an open market"
NSW's Minister for Climate Change and the Environment Frank Sartor announced that the Department had signed its first official BioBanking agreement on an 80-hectare property near Camden in Western Sydney. The property, owned by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, includes 36 hectares of critically endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland, and habitat for 17 threatened species such as the Large-eared Pied Bat, Little Lorikeet and Cumberland Land Snail. Buyers have apparently already been secured, with the Sydney Growth Centres Biodiversity Offset Program purchasing two-thirds of the credits now (607 ecosystem credits), and the remainder in August. The Growth Centres funnels levies from developers in southwest and northwest Sydney. The Epoch Times reports that the purchase of credits will offset planned development of 180,000 additional houses over the next 40 years.
Of the AUD$1.7 million paid by the Growth Centres in its current purchase, $1.1 million was paid to the landowner and over $555,000 went into the BioBanking Trust Fund, to be distributed in annual payments to the landowner for management costs (removal of existing rubbish, installation of new fences, ongoing weed and feral animal control and revegetation of previously grazed land).
Although this is the first official BioBank, another 37 'expressions of interest' have been received by NSW's DECCW and applications for 5 sites (200 ha) are currently being assessed.
Not everyone is a fan of BioBanking. The Sydney Morning-Herald laid out the pros and cons of the scheme...
Pros: "In its favour, there are limits on the process. The arrangement will be available for developments on land for which equivalents elsewhere can be found. Land of unique significance and value will still be subject to a conservation order. And though it ensures some land will be developed, it also ensures that other land, presumably of greater or equal value, is preserved."
Cons: "There are reasons to be dubious about the BioBank system. It involves a net loss of land of conservation value. It will ease the way for development on land which might otherwise have been preserved. And it co-opts the Department of the Environment into becoming part of the development approval process, possibly compromising its conservation role."
The Epoch Times noted that environmentalists are not happy with the scheme allowing the destruction of one area for a swap of protection of another area. Perhaps that is because of distrust of the Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, who was involved in a development/land swap deal while in a former position in the NSW Planning Department that was later deemed illegal. ABC (Australia) has a short news video that nicely lays out the nuances and history of BioBanking and Mr. Sartor’s tarnished reputation with "land bribes."
– Sydney Morning Herald article
– New South Wales Press Release
– ABC.net.au article and video
$4.25 Billion More Funding Available from the Global Environment Facility
SustainableBusiness.com (5/13/2010)
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) received a significant boost in funding, with more than 30 countries pledging $4.25 billion. The GEF is the world's largest public environmental fund, and said this is the first significant step in toward promises made in Copenhagen. The money will help countries meet their Convention on Biological Diversity goals, among others like international waters, land degradation and climate change. The GEF has already provided $8.7 billion in grants to projects in over 165 developing countries, and will continue to partner with international institutions, civil society and the private sector to address global environmental issues.
– Read more from Sustainable Business
Cute vs. Endangered - Sea Lions Sacrificed for Salmon
The Oregonian (5/13/2010)
In an attempt to save endangered salmon and steelhead, the Army Corps of Engineers has been killing sea lions at the request of Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The sea lions have been eating the fish at near record levels (2% of the run), and the actions taken are unprecedented – it is the first program in the nation to kill marine mammals since the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. The lions are munching on salmon at a hydropower dam (the waiting line for the fish ladder), but animal activists say the killing is unnecessary and too insignificant to make a difference.
– Read from Oregon Live
Big Ideas for Tackling Biodiversity Crisis
The Guardian (5/10/2010)
What to do? We're losing biodiversity, and climate change isn’t making the situation any better. The article highlights some big ideas like: stick 'em in the fridge (bank seeds in cold storage), move 'em around (relocation of endangered species faced with threats from climate change), move 'em around part II (ocean conservation parks that move with climate change), put your heads together (create an International Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services).
– Read on in the Guardian
The UN Releases its 3rd Global Biodiversity Outlook
Convention on Biological Diversity website, New York Times, BBC News (5/2010)
The UN released its third and latest Global Biodiversity Outlook report (access full report here ), noting the failure to meet Convention on Biological Diversity 2010 goals to reduce biodiversity loss. The 95-page report compiled information from 120 countries reporting on their own progress (or lack of progress) towards international goals, measured by multiple indicators (species numbers, protected areas, pollution, etc.). It's dense stuff. The BBC and New York Times give highlights of the report.
What the report recommends is basically to incorporate biodiversity into the fabric of nations' policies and economy: "International and national rules and frameworks for markets and economic activities can and must be adjusted and developed in such a way that they contribute to safeguarding and sustainably using biodiversity, instead of threatening it as they have often done in the past." Whew -- this is tough stuff.
– Access full report
– Read more from the NYTimes
– Read more from the BBC
'Conservation Credits' Idea in the UK
...The new party wants it, one private company has it, and Big Carbon says make it a global market
The UK is taking big strides in developing its idea of 'conservation credits,' but does it know where it’s going? In November of last year, the UK's Conservative party floated the idea of conservation credits, and now that they're in power, there's moment to make good on the promise to "pioneer a new system of conservation credits to protect habitats." UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) will be the lead on developing this promise to fruition.
Even though it doesn't sound like the rules of the game are fixed yet, the Guardian reports that a private company, the Environment Bank, announced the launch of the first UK project developing 'conservation credits.' The company has invested £100 million in restoration "to restore and reconnect fragmented wetlands, woodlands and grasslands around the headwaters of the river Thames in the west of England." Developers could voluntarily purchase credits to help meet requirements associated with planning permissions.
Ian Dickie, Senior Consultant at economics for the environment consultancy (eftec) and co-author of a major report for the EC on habitat banking tells Ecosystem Marketplace:
"This is an innovative scheme. It will be interesting to see whether planning authorities recognize the ‘conservation credits’ it produces, and if they check that these credits are based on additional actions that benefit biodiversity. The potential market for conservation credits is indeed large, but is much more likely to grow if requirements are placed on developers and others who damage biodiversity to provide adequate compensation. These requirements should be designed to achieve no net loss of biodiversity."
Meanwhile, Big Carbon is weighing in and wants biodiversity to be... just like Carbon. In an earlier Guardian article (dated 17 May), Ben Caldecott, head of UK & EU climate change and energy policy at Climate Change Capital (CCC), argues that Britain should lead a charge for an international biodiversity market. The author thinks that in designing the UK's new conservation credit system, Britain could create rules for 'biodiversity equivalency' and scale-up international investment in biodiversity. The article notes that one of the reasons biodiversity has not been able to attract global investment like the carbon market is because of the problem of a common currency. The article suggests developing an equivalency: "One species per km2, or '1 species equivalent', could be the common unit of account, with endangered species on the IUCN Red List given a multiplier that significantly increases their value."
This concept of trading conservation credits globally goes against the current stream of thinking on biodiversity offsets, which generally argue that an offset should be of the same ecosystem or species type as that impacted. The comments section of the article highlighted opposition to the concept, from general wariness of markets to complete disagreement with the commercialization of biodiversity.
– UK's first 'conservation credit' scheme launched
– We have an international market for carbon, why not one for conservation?
Gulf Spill - Place your Bets on Which Species Goes Down (seriously)
Greenwire (5/24/2010)
You can bet on anything these days. Including which species will become extinct because of BP's oil spill in the Gulf. The odds-on favorite on Irish gambling website Paddypower.com is the Kemp's Ridley turtle. A $5 bet on the turtle would get you a $9 return if it became extinct. The Bluefin tuna's odds are 6-to-4. Paddypower.com's PR says "It’s a sure bet we’ll lose some marine species, the only question is which ones." Sigh.
– More from the NYTimes
One Year is Not Enough - Japan Proposes UN 'Decade of Biodiversity'
Japan Today (5/8/2010)
Japan is pushing the UN to declare the next ten years as the international Decade of Biodiversity to continue the world's focus on biodiversity restoration and conservation. 2010 has been the 'International Year of Biodiversity'... so why not the whole darn decade? Special interest was placed on including the United States, which is not party to the biodiversity convention.
– Read more from Japan Today
Gulf Spill Told Ya So - Endangered Species Regs Overlooked in Permitting Oil Rigs
The New York Times (5/13/2010)
The US Minerals Management Service (MMS) bypassed requirements to assess threats to endangered species in permitting the Deepwater Horizon rig and dozens of others. According to current and former agency scientists, the MMS routinely overrules staff biologists and engineers who raise concerns about safety and environmental impact. Hundreds of drilling plans and blasting projects have gone through despite NOAA's repeated warnings about the effects on marine mammals. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar plans to reorganize the MMS, but it is unlikely the reorganization will encourage collaboration between the two agencies.
– More from the NYTimes
Israel's New National Biodiversity Plan
Jerusalem Post (5/13/2010)
Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan revealed Israel's National Biodiversity Pan at a recent environmental conference. A major focus has been placed on uncontrolled construction which, Erdan asserts, is one of the main reasons for biodiversity destruction in Israel. The plan includes steps to integrate consideration of biodiversity in planning, and legislation (including financial incentives) for biodiversity protection.
– Read more from the Jerusalem Post
Corps Releases Credits at IL Prairie Green Preserve
A project 12 years in the making, Prairie Green Preserve outside Geneva Illinois, received permission from the Corps of Engineers to release credits for sale from the restoration of 35 acres of wetlands. The total site is 573 acres, but only 75 acres have been slated for wetland restoration. The wetland credits were developed in part to finance open space conservation of the larger site. The site is "in the Upper Mill Creek sub-watershed of the Fox River Watershed, which stretches from the Stratton Dam in McHenry County to the Illinois River near Ottawa, from DuPage and Lake counties on the east to Lee and Grundy on the west." A city representative said credits could be priced from $45,000 to $60,000 an acre.
– Read more here!
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