The pressure to report on nature-related impacts is ever-growing. You can leverage the lessons learned globally when using the mitigation hierarchy, a comprehensive framework that guides businesses in managing and reporting on their environmental impact.
The pressure to report on nature-related impacts is ever-growing. You can leverage the lessons learned globally when using the mitigation hierarchy, a comprehensive framework that guides businesses in managing and reporting on their environmental impact.
To bring about meaningful change, we need to bring accountability to our accounting. Businesses will need to rethink their existing biodiversity monitoring requirements – shifting from a species-specific approach to measuring whole landscapes and protecting species at local, national and international levels. Companies will need robust biodiversity baselines in place and will need to use the mitigation hierarchy to avoid, minimise, restore and offset their impact.
Thankfully, new tools and techniques, such as nature performance monitoring and environmental DNA (eDNA) technology, are enabling companies to measure nature safely and cost-efficiently on a scale never seen before.
When engaging with biodiversity, the primary focus should be on the application of the mitigation hierarchy – which is designed to avoid, minimise, restore environmental impacts, and then compensate or offset where they are unavoidable.
The mitigation hierarchy requires companies to define their baseline and the measurement and monitoring of biodiversity at the earliest stage possible and throughout the lifecycle of the asset or project
eDNA surveys stand out for their ability to generate vast biodiversity data across various habitats globally, providing a robust evidence base for decision-making. This DNA-based monitoring also aligns seamlessly with the mitigation hierarchy, with applications in Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) projects worldwide.
At the onset of a project lifecycle, biodiversity surveys can be performed to understand what you’re dealing with, identify risks and opportunities, and importantly avoid impacts.
A single set of water samples can yield data on all groups of vertebrates.
For certain groups (e.g. fish), eDNA consistently outperforms conventional survey techniques and may be used as a direct substitute. For others (e.g. mammals and amphibians), it often provides as much data as conventional surveys, for far less effort.
Our eDNA kits are easy to use, so it is possible for non-specialists (e.g. engineers, hydrogeologists etc) to be trained in sampling, and to collect samples during initial trips to site. This enables biodiversity data to be collected at the earliest possible opportunity without having to mobilise a team of biodiversity specialists, providing early warning of risks around threatened species.
During the more detailed baselining phase, eDNA samples can be collected alongside conventional survey approaches to maximise the amount of data collected. In some cases eDNA can replace conventional surveys, leading to reduction in the overall size of the field team.
In rivers, eDNA is transported downstream from its point of origin, which makes it well-suited to landscape-level assessments. This can be a particular advantage where rivers or streams flow down through steep and inaccessible habitats that present difficulties for conventional surveys. eDNA samples can be collected at the closest accessible point and used to survey the vertebrate fauna present in the inaccessible areas upstream.
Downstream transport distance varies according to the size and flow-rate of the waterway, and we work with our clients to optimise sampling strategy according to (1) information needs and (2) the specific environment in which a project is located.
Rapid eDNA surveys can provide vital information on key species to manage risk in the early stages of a project. This can highlight the presence of species that might carry additional mitigation requirements (e.g. species listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN red list, or those of local or national conservation concern).
Identification of Sensitive Areas: Spatial screening helps identify critical habitats, protected areas, and regions with high biodiversity where activities could have a material impact. This allows planners and developers to avoid these areas during the initial stages of project planning. Useful tools include ENCORE, SBTN Materiality Tool, IBAT, and WWF Risk Filters.
By integrating spatial data early in the project lifecycle during the avoid phase, potential impacts on biodiversity can be considered before any physical activities commence. This proactive approach is often more cost-effective and ecologically beneficial than trying to mitigate impacts after they occur.
Where a DNA-based biodiversity baseline has been created prior to impact, ongoing monitoring using the same approaches throughout the operational phase of the project can be used to track the nature and extent of the impact on the various components of biodiversity (for instance tracking species losses from an area over time or changes in community composition).
Since DNA-based samples can be collected by non-specialists, sampling can be carried out more regularly than is possible for conventional surveys, by making use of on-site personnel.
This is particularly useful for understanding natural seasonal variations such as migration patterns, providing opportunities to minimise impacts through scheduling.
With the additional data provided by more regular monitoring, adverse impacts on particular species groups can be identified early, and an adaptive management approach
The big-data baselines generated from highly diverse groups (arthropods, soil fauna, plankton etc) are particularly useful for tracking restoration success at the habitat and ecosystem level.These datasets are sufficiently powerful to track even small changes in biological communities as they move away from the baseline in response to disturbance and back towards it during the restoration process.
Ultimately, this data can be used to test the extent to which habitats have been restored to their former ecological states (or to suitable reference conditions), enabling assessment of the residual impact that will need to be addressed through offsetting.
Note that use of such data for evaluating restoration success depends on the existence of a high-resolution pre-impact baseline to serve as a benchmark.
Similar to the minimisation step, an adaptive management approach can be implemented during this phase, with regular sampling carried out so that data can be used to inform and optimise restoration activities, ensuring the best possible outcomes for biodiversity.
Meanwhile, eDNA samples can be used for surveillance of fish and other key species to ascertain re-colonisation progress in areas of restored habitat.
As at other stages of the mitigation hierarchy, fast and easy sampling approaches can be employed to gather data on aquatic and terrestrial communities present in offset sites prior to any intervention, and to monitor the colonisation and establishment of new species as a result of conservation and management activities.
Diverse species groups (e.g.invertebrates) can be used to measure progress in habitat creation orrestoration through comparison against communities present in carefully-selected reference sites. Over time, biological communities in the offset sites should become more similar to those in the reference sites,enabling ecological equivalence to be demonstrated.
One of the greatest challenges around offsetting is ensuring the long-term maintenance of biodiversity gains. The ease of sampling using DNA-based methods enables ongoing monitoring to be carried out by local communities and other stakeholders.
The repeatability and robustness of eDNA surveys also enables the creative of reliable tools and metrics to improve monitoring and decision-making. These include Restoration Tracker, a scientifically robust and easy-to-understand metric approach that provides a single restoration score for each manage asset.
Restoration Tracker functions across multiple ecosystem types, currently covering over 70% of the terrestrial realm (following the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology). From heathlands to tropical and temperate forests, and savannas, the broad scope of Restoration Tracker enables something we've never had before: the ability to quantify restoration progress across diverse projects, even in different parts of the world.
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