Impact mitigation and biodiversity offsets - Compensation approaches from around the world

Bonn

2010

249 S.

Bandaufführung

978-3-7843-4001-2

15101

170235

Through the ratification of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), member countries have made a commitment to support the conservation of biological diversity. One of the measures of the Convention is a resolution to introduce "appropriate procedures requiring environmental impact assessment of its proposed projects that are likely to have significant adverse effects on biological diversity with a view to avoiding or minimizing such effects" (Article 14 1a). Discussions are ongoing regariing how the requirements of the CBD can be integrated into existing assessment instruments, e.g. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Strategie Environmental Assessment (SEA), as.sessments required under the Habitats Directive or German Impact Mitigation Regulation (Eingriffsregelung). The present 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. With regard fo the future development of German and international impact mitigation nd compensation the focus lies not only on approaches that are already being implemented, but also those that are currently under discussion. As main fmdings an overview on compensation practices in chosen countries on the background of the specific legal and institutional framework was elaborated and assumptions for further research were formulated. Furthermore the inalienability of the German Impact Mitigation Regulation in the international context was underlined.