The sweet and the bitter: Intertwined positive and negative social impacts of a biodiversity offset

This study uses a case study of Ambatovy, a major nickel mine in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar

Abstract

Major developments, such as mines, will often have unavoidable environmental impacts. In such cases, investors, governments, or even a company바카라 사이트™s own standards increasingly require implementation of biodiversity offsets (investment in conservation with a measurable outcome) with the aim of achieving 바카라 사이트˜no net loss바카라 사이트™ or even a 바카라 사이트˜net gain바카라 사이트™ of biodiversity. Where conservation is achieved by changing the behaviour of people directly using natural resources, the offset might be expected to have social impacts but such impacts have received very little attention.

Using the case study of Ambatovy, a major nickel mine in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar and a company at the vanguard of developing biodiversity offsets, we explore local perceptions of the magnitude and distribution of impacts of the biodiversity offset project on local wellbeing.

This work was supported by the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme

Citation

Bidaud, C., Schreckenberg, K., Rabeharison, M., Ranjatson, P., Gibbons, J., Jones, J.P.G., (2017) The sweet and the bitter: Intertwined positive and negative social impacts of a biodiversity offset, Conservation & Society, vol.15, issue7, pp.1-13

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Published 10 April 2018