Angus Walker’s Post

📢 The recently released IPART's 2023-24 Biodiversity Market Monitoring Review highlights key findings essential for enhancing biodiversity offset practices in NSW. We look forward to IPARTs investigation into the role the NSW Government should be playing in a market-based mechanism. 🌱 At TE, we support the priority action of developing confidence in the biodiversity market. In order to establish confidence in any market-based mechanism, it is clear that the role of Government is to focus on regulation and administration to achieve market integrity and good governance. In our experience working with private landholders on supply side and project proponents seeking credits, credit development efficiency is a key step that will enhance the market's effectiveness and expand conservation as a land use on private land.   📊 The report also identifies the need for improved data transparency and consistency in measuring biodiversity outcomes, in particular increased emphasis on avoiding impacts. It also points out the importance of stakeholder engagement and adaptive management to ensure that biodiversity markets achieve their intended environmental benefits.   If you’re interested in diving deeper, we encourage you to read the discussion paper or consider making a submission.   https://lnkd.in/g6CZwZis   #Sustainability #Biodiversity #EnvironmentalManagement #IPART

Development-led Biodiversity Net Gain #BNG (part 6) There was really great and useful engagement with my BNG (part 5) post, which has led me to the following further conclusion/recommendation of how LPAs should be straightforwardly dealing with BNG. It is clear that the government doesn't expect LPAs to include the deemed BNG Condition on Planning Approval Decision Notices (1) - however it is also clear that LPAs need to include an "informative" that covers the BNG Condition (2) and provides suggested wording for various situations (if you follow the link (3) ). (1) Paragraph: 024 Reference ID: 74-024-20240214 (2) Paragraph: 025 Reference ID: 74-025-20240214 I therefore expect that very soon we should see lots of Planning Approval Decision Notices saying this: "The effect of paragraph 13 of Schedule 7A to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is that planning permission granted for the development of land in England is deemed to have been granted subject to the condition “(the biodiversity gain condition”) that development may not begin unless: (a) a Biodiversity Gain Plan has been submitted to the planning authority, and (b) the planning authority has approved the plan. The planning authority, for the purposes of determining whether to approve a Biodiversity Gain Plan if one is required in respect of this permission would be [insert name of the planning authority]. There are statutory exemptions and transitional arrangements which mean that the biodiversity gain condition does not always apply. These are listed below. Based on the information available this permission is considered to be one which will require the approval of a biodiversity gain plan before development is begun because none of the statutory exemptions or transitional arrangements listed below are considered to apply." Has anyone seen this yet? (3) https://lnkd.in/e2Q_-jBk

In an expert workshop on 'Traditional Knowledge Indicators' conducted in Spring 2024, UNEP-WCMC, the Forest Peoples Programme and the CBD Secretariat brought together Indigenous experts, members of the CBD Secretariat and expert organisations, to review and integrate traditional knowledge indicators into the monitoring framework of the Global Biodiversity Framework #GBF 🌿🌳 Highlights from the workshop include: 🔸Reviewing the status of 4 traditional knowledge indicators and key considerations relating to the use of these indicators for GBF monitoring. 🔸Discussing practical examples of how Community-based Monitoring and Information Systems (CBMIS) can be used to address data and indicator gaps. 🔸Developing recommendations to ensure the use of TK indicators to monitor progress towards relevant targets of the GBF. Full details of the workshop can be found here: https://lnkd.in/dzgTfiTR

BNG or Biodiversity Nett Gain is the latest acronym to enter the developer vocabulary. Most folks agree that in principle it's a good idea, particularly in a nature-depleted country like the UK. Now the NOA (National Audit Office) have done a review of its implementation and found a few key holes. For practitioners, this will come as no surprise. Its main concerns are around lack of a well-run market for biodiversity credits and also lack of resources to check whether BNG schemes are properly implemented. Speaking with one local ecologist they have taken to ringing around local land agents to find out if anyone is doing biodiversity projects in the area. Surely a national database of providers must be a simple place to start? So at the moment the scorecard is 6/10 - great concept but the execution needs improvement!

Robin Barnes - Biodiversity Net Gain for new development - implications Last month my planning colleague, John Bosworth, published an article outlining which biodiversity net gain (BNG) policies have so far come into force. This summarised how the requirement to provide a minimum of a 10% biodiversity gain must be realised by way of on-site measures, off-site measures or purchasing statutory biodiversity credits from the Government, as well as the categories of exempt development. Here we look at what the developer must do to satisfy the policies that have come into force thus far... #commercialrealestate #commercialproperty #development #biodiversitynetgain #biodiversity https://lnkd.in/eqmgQNJb

The final 2030 National Biodiversity Strategy addresses biodiversity-harming subsidies and promises an adaptive management approach, but lacks a clear plan on how it will be implemented. Article by Kristen Walters.

Thank you for joining us in launching our Biodiversity Impact Assessment Framework (BIAF) - Beta version yesterday! For those who couldn't make it, stay tuned for the recording of the webinar which will be made available publicly soon. It was truly inspiring to see such enthusiasm in transforming how we invest and develop positive projects for nature by bringing clarity to identifying both positive and negative impacts pathways, and estimating the net benefit for biodiversity. BIAF is a framework method based on the biodiversity extent, condition, and significance approach offering full flexibility for estimating benefits to biodiversity from various business models and scales. You can use various metrics with BIAF depending on what projects/investments you are dealing with and of course, availability and quality of data you have at hand. As it is based on the ExC approach, BIAF aligns well with disclosure metrics recommended by the TNFD and other emerging frameworks as well. We welcome further feedback and comments to our framework method. So please do get in touch if you are intrigued or better yet, if you are keen to test BIAF on your investments or projects or get involved in our next iteration of the method. You can access the full methodology report here: https://lnkd.in/gitDj8Hq

🌿 Biodiversity Credit Alliance (BCA) released the second issue paper on "Review Mechanisms for Supply-side Quality and Integrity in the Biodiversity Credit Market": https://lnkd.in/dnSHmaKr Manesh Lacoul, Global Coordinator, Biodiversity Credit Alliance, shares his insights: "BCA is about to publish its second issue paper, which delineates the process of developing an independent review mechanism for the emerging biodiversity credit market. BCA work streams are initiated to address the need for equity, quality and integrity early on in the development of the biodiversity credit market to help lay a foundation for its long-term sustainability and success.    Only with strong foundations will the market contribute effectively to global biodiversity conservation goals while upholding ethical standards and promoting social equity as outlined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.   BCA is aligning its efforts to provide ongoing guidance in the direction illustrated in this paper, mobilizing partners and engaging in a broad stakeholder consultation process to establish this key component of the market governance framework.   BCA is also currently in its final preparations for the release of its third issue paper “Definition of a Biodiversity Credit”. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/dx_rniZA #biodiversity #biodiversitycredits #BCA #supply #integrity

A recent study assesses how Indigenous Peoples, local communities and citizen scientists, and professional scientists can help monitor the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework https://shorturl.at/AiTEM  

NEW PAPER ALERT ft. what I can only describe as a dream team of authors. Led by Jenna Sullivan-Stack, who coordinated this dream team, this paper is a meta-analysis of The MPA Guide assessments that have taken place since the publication of The MPA Guide (including the #CCAMLR MPAs that were the first paper to come out of my dissertation!). This is especially key in the discourse of the #30x30 target under the Global Biodiversity Framework - where the quality of protected areas is often overlooked for quantity. https://lnkd.in/evjT-TbE