Growing the Forest Not the Trees: A Methodology to Identify Strategic, Regional Opportunities for Sustainable Biodiversity Offsets

Abstract

Globally, natural values are under threat from increasing development to fulfil the needs of a growing population. Biodiversity loss and its link to ecosystem functions and services is of particular concern. Biodiversity offsets may be one solution to compensate for these impacts of development. In particular, the strategic use of offsets at a regional scale and the prioritisation of ecological linkages, collaborative and coordinated approaches can optimise benefits for natural values such as biodiversity and ecological features, functions and services. This research developed a methodology for strategic offset opportunities utilising a literature review, stakeholder engagement and spatial data and risk analyses to identify key priorities and solutions that could be delivered through offsets at a regional scale for the Northern Jarrah Forest (NJF) of Western Australia. The literature review identified climate change, vegetation clearing, altered fire regimes, disease and invasive species, and knowledge gaps as key priorities for the NJF that were confirmed during stakeholder engagement. Spatial analysis identified restoration as having the largest area of opportunity for offsets, while protection opportunities had the least and were limited by competing land uses. The risk assessment was undertaken to identify the risk of offset failure or non-delivery of expected biodiversity outcomes due to factors such as competing land uses, lack of permanence, data uncertainty and regulator/stakeholder acceptability. The risk analysis enabled comparison and prioritisation of offset solutions and identified activities to reduce risks associated with offsets. Restoration had the lowest overall risk (higher confidence and acceptability) while thinning and disease management carried higher uncertainty due to data limitations. The strategic use of offsets, particularly within a Maximum Sustainable Development approach, can reduce risk and optimise benefits to environmental, cultural, social and economic priorities. This is of particular importance in areas of high significance with competing priorities. Benefits from the strategic use of offsets can be further improved by application across multiple regions to ensure that the differing scales of cultural, social and economic priorities can be accounted for, allowing further flexibility in the use of offsets across greater scales.