Nature + Economics

BSR's report on public trends in ES.

"...experts are calling for an institutionalised acknowledgment of the services acquired from South Africa’s ecological infrastructure and for this to be included in the National Development Plan (NDP) and the country’s growth and development policies."

My Q: But what does that mean? A: Dunno yet: "While most stakeholders, including the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), are in agreement that ecological infrastructure can and should play a greater role in the NDP, difficulties have emerged around exactly how this should be achieved."

It's great to see so much effort going into cost efficency and reduced compliance costs too, here. But still not cheap, mind. It doesn't seem as sustainable without it, so it's a great modern attitude:

"The Property Council, Australia’s leading advocate for the country’s $600 billion property industry, has welcomed the Victorian Government’s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy for the clarity, transparency and sound environmental outcomes it will deliver."

And see at the end: "The Victorian Government has also released a draft cost recovery plan entitled Habitat Compensation under the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy, which aims to collect close to $1 billion for the program over the next 30-40 years."

I wonder how that compares to Victoria's BushTender system, or NSW's Biobanking scheme. Stay tunned....

Watershed Payments are one of the first - and most charismatic - examples how economcis and ecosystems can leverage each other. If we can make this idea work, then I'm optimisic about our other innovative ideas comming through too.

“80 percent of the world is now facing significant threats to water security. We are witnessing the early stages of a global response that could transform the way we value and manage the world’s watersheds.”

See the full report here: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_3308.pdf

"A recent paper is one of few to evaluate the outcomes from a biodiversity offset. When frog habitat was destroyed during development in Sydney Olympic Park, more habitat was created as an offset. The authors monitored the population size of the vulnerable green and golden bell frog (Litoria aurea) before and after development. They found that an area of habitat 19 times larger than the habitat area affected had to be created to ensure there was a no net loss of frogs.

This is an example of an offset working. But the amount of habitat that had to be created relative to the habitat lost (known as the “offset ratio”) was 19:1 – much greater than initially expected, and this was only discovered after intensive monitoring over more than a decade.

Often, proposed offset ratios are closer to 2:1"

I am floored. My favorite mega-millionaire Richard Branson (is he Batman? you gotta wonder) just posted a piece on the WSJ's LiveMint.com about how it's important to pay attention to biodiversity and ecosystem services. 

Let me boil down why he thinks it's important:

- Consumer demand: "Consumers are becoming increasingly frustrated with corporations that are only out for themselves, rather than helping their communities and the planet. Our group and other companies are going to need to know the answers to such questions [about biodiversity and ecosystem services]" 

- Community relations (eg, impacts of a company's operations on ecosystem services/biodiversity upon which local communities rely upon/enjoy): "What impact will our new offices have on the surrounding ecosystem?"

- Company innovation (/employee retention): "Everyone was energized by this challenge of envisioning and creating a sustainable future... And as I was listening to the researchers and my team, I was reminded that learning is not just a luxury, but integral to the growth of our group and the health of our company."

Here's WHEN it's important:

- Siting a new facility: "Where is the most suitable and sustainable location to position our new factory?"

Here's HOW Virgin is considering biodiversity and ecosystem services:

-  Measuring impacts: "we are looking at ways to better account for the impacts our activities are having on the natural resources"

So cool to see a topic like this coming out of a CEOs mouth. My work here is done.