What
Are Biodiversity Credits?

Scientists, conservationists, and policymakers around the world are working to develop "biodiversity credits". While agreement on details is still emerging, these credits have the same goal: attaching economic value to the preservation or restoration of ecosystems.

A simple example might work something like this:

A biodiversity organisation (for example a wildlife charity) developing biodiversity credits identify a threatened habitat and form a partnership with the owners of that land. They then conduct a biological survey to assess the habitat’s baseline condition, using factors like species richness, ecological integrity, and water quality. The organisation then devises a plan for improving habitat and protecting it over a given period, perhaps a decade or more. Revenues from the credit would be split between the landowner and the biodiversity organisation.

At set intervals, perhaps every year or two, the organisation or a third party specialist, monitors its progress. If the habitat has met the agreed-upon goals of improvement, it generates a biodiversity credit, which companies can buy and use as a voluntary offset should they choose to do so.

Depending on where the company is based this could be done for regulatory or simply branding purposes.

Plan Vivo is one of the leading biodiversity startup companies involved with measuring and accredited carbon credits. They are working with Pivotal, a specialist in biodiversity credits, to create a reliable biodiversity measurement system. The methodology uses a percentage change per hectare and species-based approach to generate biodiversity credits. Initial scoping showed prices would be “not far off the range we see in voluntary carbon markets, around $20” per unit, according to Plan Vivo CEO Keith Bohannon.