Biodiversity offsets in New Zealand: addressing the risks and maximising the benefits

Biodiversity offsets are proliferating globally, and are commonly offered or required in a development context to address residual impacts on biodiversity. Regulatory requirements for mitigating or offsetting ecological harm are now commonplace, with more than 60 countries having introduced relevant policies. Biodiversity offsets are commonly framed in policy as opportunities to reconcile the competing interests of economic development and environmental protection, and are also viewed as a crucial means of internalising environmental costs and achieving conservation goals. Biodiversity offsets can generally be defined as measurable conservation outcomes resulting from actions designed to compensate for significant residual adverse biodiversity impacts arising from project development after appropriate prevention and mitigation measures have been taken. The goal of biodiversity offsets is to achieve no net loss and preferably a net gain of biodiversity on the ground with respect to species composition, habitat structure and ecosystem function and people’s use and cultural values associated with biodiversity. New Zealand has taken up the concept of biodiversity offsets with some enthusiasm, which almost entirely preceded a policy context for such to access arrangements, generally for mining activities.