Taming a wicked problem: resolving controversies in biodiversity offsetting

TY - JOUR

T1 - Taming a wicked problem

T2 - resolving controversies in biodiversity offsetting

AU - Maron, Martine

AU - Ives, Christopher D.

AU - Kujala, Heini

AU - Bull, Joseph William

AU - Maseyk, Fleur J F

AU - Bekessy, Sarah

AU - Gordon, Ascelin

AU - Watson, James E M

AU - Lentini, Pia E.

AU - Gibbons, Philip

AU - Possingham, Hugh P.

AU - Hobbs, Richard J.

AU - Keith, David A.

AU - Wintle, Brendan A.

AU - Evans, Megan C.

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - The rising popularity of biodiversity offsetting as a tool for balancing biodiversity losses from development with equivalent gains elsewhere has sparked debate on many fronts. The fundamental questions are the following: Is offsetting good, bad, or at least better than the status quo for biodiversity conservation outcomes, and what do we need to know to decide? We present a concise synthesis of the most contentious issues related to biodiversity offsetting, categorized as ethical, social, technical, or governance challenges. In each case, we discuss avenues for reducing disagreement over these issues and identify those that are likely to remain unresolved. We argue that there are many risks associated with the unscrutinized expansion of offset policy. Nevertheless, governments are increasingly adopting offset policies, so working rapidly to clarify and-where possible-to resolve these issues is essential.

AB - The rising popularity of biodiversity offsetting as a tool for balancing biodiversity losses from development with equivalent gains elsewhere has sparked debate on many fronts. The fundamental questions are the following: Is offsetting good, bad, or at least better than the status quo for biodiversity conservation outcomes, and what do we need to know to decide? We present a concise synthesis of the most contentious issues related to biodiversity offsetting, categorized as ethical, social, technical, or governance challenges. In each case, we discuss avenues for reducing disagreement over these issues and identify those that are likely to remain unresolved. We argue that there are many risks associated with the unscrutinized expansion of offset policy. Nevertheless, governments are increasingly adopting offset policies, so working rapidly to clarify and-where possible-to resolve these issues is essential.

KW - biodiversity offsets

KW - conservation policy

KW - environmental ethics

KW - environmental governance

KW - no net loss

U2 - 10.1093/biosci/biw038

DO - 10.1093/biosci/biw038

M3 - Review

AN - SCOPUS:84975780353

SN - 0006-3568

VL - 66

SP - 489

EP - 498

JO - BioScience

JF - BioScience

IS - 6

ER -