The American Forest Foundation received a $194,000 grant from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation Innovation Grants program to develop a habitat credit bank for the Gopher tortoise on the Georgia/Alabama border. To date, most habitat banks focus on the recovery of endangered species. In contrast, this innovative proactive approach encourages management for the gopher tortoise on private lands with the goal of helping to preclude the need to federally list it.

St. Johns River Water Management District's governing board approved the creation of a 2,800-acre wetland bank in northwestern Flagler County. A timber investment company that owns some 6,000 acres there will give up all future development rights on about half its land in exchange for permission to create the bank, called the Brick Road Mitigation Bank. The bank may be awarded with as many as 451 credits to sell in much of Northwest Volusia and Flagler counties. Credit prices in North and Central Florida range in cost between $30,000 and $160,000 each.

The Elyria Council’s Building and Lands Committee voted to put the creation of a city-owned wetland mitigation bank on hold until city officials could address concerns ranging from maintenance to security. The city has proposed creating additional wetlands in the 105-acre Elmwood Wetland Preserve. The public claims that the preserve has become a place for burning cars, beer cans and parties.

“Alberta energy companies want the government to set up a "conservation bank" to help protect land from industrial expansion, according to a new study by an environmental think-tank. The bank would be filled by setting aside areas with similar ecological values to those that get developed.”

Conservation banking is thriving in Solano County, California. The 1,800-acre Elise Gridley Preserve and the 960-acre Burke Ranch Conservation Bank are two banks established in the last three years. Solano County now has four banks that protect more than 3,500 acres.

Huge investment funds have already poured hundreds of billions of dollars into booming financial markets for commodities like wheat, corn and soybeans. But a few big private investors are starting to make bolder and longer-term bets that the world’s need for food will greatly increase — by buying farmland, fertilizer, grain elevators and shipping equipment.

The government of Victoria, Australia will invest another $2.7 million in the BushTender scheme, to pay for landholders to undertake environmental preservation work. The program encourages landholders to apply through a competitive tender process. Winners of the bids receive payment from the government in return for providing services to better protect and improve native vegetation on their land.

The Army Corps of Engineers recently asked property owners to consider not repairing the Lake Powell dam for refilling, and instead establish a wetlands mitigation bank. The lake-side owners would be awarded wetland credits based on the amount of restoration, creation or preservation and could be sold to developers who need them. Property owners around Lake Powell will likely resist, preferring instead to reclaim their pristine view. Their property assessments were adjusted downward by an average of 17% last year to reflect the fact that they no longer own waterfront or waterview property since the dam blew out.

Shelley Burgin of the University of Western Sydney takes a closer look at the BioBanking program in New South Wales, Australia. Published in the journal Biodiversity and Conservation, Burgin identifies strengths and weaknesses such as flawed logic, complex science, problems with compliance, and lack of resources.