The sweet and the bitter: Intertwined positive and negative social impacts of a biodiversity offset
This study uses a case study of Ambatovy, a major nickel mine in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar
Abstract
Major developments, such as mines, will often have unavoidable environmental impacts. In such cases, investors, governments, or even a company’s own standards increasingly require implementation of biodiversity offsets (investment in conservation with a measurable outcome) with the aim of achieving ‘no net loss’ or even a ‘net gain’ of biodiversity. Where conservation is achieved by changing the behaviour of people directly using natural resources, the offset might be expected to have social impacts but such impacts have received very little attention.
Using the case study of Ambatovy, a major nickel mine in the eastern rainforests of Madagascar and a company at the vanguard of developing biodiversity offsets, we explore local perceptions of the magnitude and distribution of impacts of the biodiversity offset project on local wellbeing.
This work was supported by the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme
Citation
Bidaud, C., Schreckenberg, K., Rabeharison, M., Ranjatson, P., Gibbons, J., Jones, J.P.G., (2017) The sweet and the bitter: Intertwined positive and negative social impacts of a biodiversity offset, Conservation & Society, vol.15, issue7, pp.1-13
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The sweet and the bitter: Intertwined positive and negative social impacts of a biodiversity offset