Case Studies

How are businesses engaging with biodiversity across different countries?

Different countries are taking different approaches to protecting their natural capital.

New Zealand

In July 2022, New Zealand launched its new biocredits product facilitated by Ekos with funding support from Trust Waikato, the Wel Energy Trust and the D.V. Bryant Trust.

These credits are called “sustainable development units” bought by a supply chain business (Profile Group Limited). They fund the conservation management of 83 hectares at Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari. The biocredits are not offsets and were issued for short-term biodiversity outcomes..

Australia

Unlike other biodiversity credits markets, each EcoAustralia™ credit (by developer South Pole) is a combination of one “Australian biodiversity unit” (ABU) and one carbon credit (issued by Gold Standard). Each ABU represents 1.5 square meters of habitat protection.

The Mount Sandy project, for example, protects a rare pocket of native vegetation in South Australia’s Coorong region under the care of the Ngarrindjeri people. Buyers of EcoAustralia™ credits are Porsche Australia, the University of Melbourne, and CareSuper.

Colombia

Colombia's biodiversity credits program was created by ClimateTrade and Terrasos. These biocredits are called “voluntary biodiversity credits” (VBCs) first issued by the Bosque de Niebla-El Globo Habitat Bank.

Each VBC, priced at $30, corresponds to 30 years of conservation and/or restoration of 10 square meters of the Bosque de Niebla forest. It’s a cloud forest home to a number of threatened species.