Nature credits: Releasing private markets capital into the wild

Nature credits: Releasing private markets capital into the wild

The next frontier in portfolio risk management and natural capital investing

“If working apart we are a force powerful enough to destabilise our planet, surely working together we are powerful enough to save it… In my lifetime I've witnessed a terrible decline. In yours, you could and should witness a wonderful recovery.”Contents

Appendices

Thank you for reading

Sir David Attenborough, British naturalist and broadcaster

"$58T of economic value generation—more than half the world’s total GDP—is moderately or highly dependent on nature and its services. Nature loss matters for most businesses—through impacts on operations, supply chains, and markets.”

World Economic Forum

Nature in numbers

Executive summary

Key concepts in nature investing

The nature markets landscape

The nature investment opportunity

Ways to access nature credit markets

Nature credits vs. carbon credits

Indigenous peoples & local communities (IPLCs)

Nature credits in action: Snapshots

Glossary

Disclaimer

Nature in numbers

“Urgent efforts to find solutions that slow and potentially reverse climate change and revive nature are failing because we are treating these issues as separate when the reality is they are inextricably linked on multiple levels. Systems change, by dint of its very essence, cannot be tackled by extracting subject strands and expecting focus on those in isolation to offer the answers.”

Dr. Nina Seega, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership

The nature—climate change nexus

Nature and climate change are inherently linked, and neither one can be considered in isolation.

The combination of rising carbon emissions and accelerating destruction of nature poses a material threat to the economy. For investors, it represents both systemic portfolio risks and significant investment opportunities.

In the early 1970s, the world entered a structural natural capital deficit, with utilization of Earth’s natural capital exceeding regeneration. Since then, our global society has continued to write checks to nature that Earth cannot cash—and utilization is now approaching twice sustainable levels.

Nature degradation is a global problem with global consequences

Executive summary

Putting nature where it belongs—on the balance sheet

Nature is a fundamental cornerstone of our livelihoods and our health. It's also a supporting pillar of our economy, with more than half of the world’s GDP—worth a staggering $58T—either highly or moderately dependent on nature.

In a previous whitepaper, we highlighted how our traditional economic models have failed either to systematically account for nature or to value it. This economic mispricing has inevitably distorted the way we use nature: if we perceive it as “free” and “inexhaustible,” we are far more likely to abuse it.

Nature represents a comparable systemic risk to climate change—yet it has attracted a fraction of the funding. Today, the introduction of nature disclosure obligations like the TNFD has helped drive:

greater recognition of nature's importance to companies and supply chains;
growing awareness of the impact of nature-related risk on investment portfolios; and
attractive opportunities for investors to reposition their portfolios to benefit from a correction in the longstanding mispricing of nature.

Natural capital is the world's stock of natural resources, including elements like soils, air, water, and all living organisms.

Nature-positive actions align with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and its goal of halting nature loss by 2030 and achieving full recovery by 2050.

Nature markets focus on the economic value of provisioning ecosystem services including water quality, erosion prevention, and pollinator habitat.

Nature credits (also known as “biodiversity credits”) are an economic instrument of nature markets and are tied to delivery of nature-positive outcomes, enabling them to:

incentivize nature investment, protection, and restoration;
complement public funding; and
accelerate the transition to a nature-positive economy.

Nature credits can be used in nature offset markets, but their underlying methodologies usually incorporate a concept of net gain, ensuring a positive overall impact on nature.

Each nature credit is assigned a value equivalent to a specified activity related to an area of land, based on changes in land management practices over time (e.g, conservation or restoration). Companies then buy credits from organizations that are responsible for these activities, with price dictated by demand and supply.

Key concepts in nature investing

Nature sustains the global economy, and Earth and society more broadly, through a broad spectrum of ecosystem services.

Ecosystem services are the environmental, social, and economic benefits that we derive from natural systems.

Nature markets are generally either regulatory or voluntary, although some are a combination of both. Regulatory nature markets—also known as “mandatory” or “compliance" markets—are compulsory under law/government policy. Both market types incentivize landowners to implement activities to deliver positive nature outcomes—earning nature credits in the process. In regulatory markets, these credits are sold to companies that need to satisfy their legal environmental obligations; in voluntary markets, they are sold to companies that want to actively protect and restore nature—often motivated by its strategic importance to their business.

Major nature markets and players
NAME	RESPONSIBLE ENTITY	TYPE	COUNTRY	GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE	REG/VOL; PUBLIC/PRIVATE	UNITS/METRICS
Nature Repair Market	Australian state governments	Voluntary national biodiversity market scheme designed to encourage people/businesses to invest in projects that restore and protect Australia's natural environment.	Australia	Individual states	Voluntary/public	Australian Biodiversity Units (ABUs)
New South Wales Biodiversity Offsets Scheme	New South Wales Government	Biodiversity offsets scheme designed to reduce the impact of development and some types of clearing on biodiversity in New South Wales.	Australia	New South Wales	Largely compulsory/public	Biodiversity credits
Biodiversity Offsets Victoria	Victorian Government	Biodiversity offsets scheme designed compensate for the permitted clearance of native vegetation and threatened species habitat under the Victorian Government’s Planning and Environment Act 1987 and Guidelines for the removal, destruction or lopping of native vegetation (the ‘Guidelines’) (DELWP 2017), and the Australian Federal Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act).	Australia	Victoria	Regulatory/public	General or Species Habitat Units (HUs)
Western Australia Environmental Offsets Scheme (under development)	Western Australia Government	Government-run program under the Environmental Protection Act 1986, designed to counterbalance significant residual impacts on biodiversity from development projects by requiring developers to undertake conservation actions.	Australia	Western Australia	Regulatory/public	Environmental offsets
International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits (IAPB)	French/UK governments	Global initiative launched to accelerate the development of high-integrity biodiversity credit markets.	France/UK	Global	N/A	N/A
Organization for Biodiversity Certificates	N/A	Developing an operational tool to evaluate local positive biodiversity impacts	France		N/A	N/A
NSW Biodiversity Offsets Scheme	NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water	Biodiversity credits offset scheme	Australia	National	Voluntary + regulatory/Public	Biodiversity credits (species credits/ecosystem credits)
TBA	Government of Gabon	Biodiversity credit scheme (in development)	Gabon	National	Voluntary/public	Sustainable development credits, including biodiversity credits
No single, unified "biodiversity credit scheme" with a specific name.	German Government	Regulatory biodiversity offset schee;	Germany	National	Regulatory/public	Eco-Points
Iniciativa Española Empresa y Biodiversidad (Spanish Business and Biodiversity Initiative)	Spanish Government	Biodiversity credit scheme	Spain	National	Primarily voluntary/public	Biodiversity units
TBC	Wallacea Trust	Biodiversity credits program (in development)	UK	International	Voluntary/private	N/A
Global Biodiversity Standard	N/A	Certification methodology for sites that have created new positive impacts on biodiversity.	UK	International	N/A	N/A
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)	UK Government	Government strategy requiring developers to ensure that their projects lead to a measurable improvement in biodiversity, leaving the natural environment in a better state than before development. Read our case study on BNG.	UK	National	Regulatory/public	Standard biodiversity units
PV Nature	Plan Vivo Foundation	Independent standard/ high-integrity biodiversity certificates that deliver robust and credible outcomes for nature alongside social/ climate benefits.	UK	International	Voluntary/private	Plan Vivo Certificates (restoration/conservation certificates)
NaturePlus™	GreenCollar	Nature credits scheme	Australia	National	Voluntary/private	NaturePlus™ Credit = one hectare of measured and verified active restoration or conservation of habitat or species
Cassowary Credit Scheme	Terrain NRM	Focuses on habitat restoration across the tropical rainforests of Far North Queensland.	Australia	National	Voluntary/private	1 credit = 1 unit of rainforest condition improvement
Wilderlands	N/A	Protects vulnerable Australian habitat	Australia	National	Voluntary/private	1 Biological Diversity Unit = 1m² square unit that promises a permanent protection and 20 years of active management.
The Ekos BioCredita Programme	Ekos	Enables terrestrial and/or marine biodiversity conservation projects to gain funding through the sale of biodiversity credits.	New Zealand	National	Voluntary/private	One biodiversity credit = 100m² of land protected for a year.
Verra	N/A	SD VISta Program (flexible standards program for certifying projects generating verifiable sustainable development benefits); Nature Framework (asset methodology with specific requirements and quantification approaches to measure biodiversity outcomes)	International	International	Voluntary/private	One Nature Credit = 1% of net biodiversity outcomes (measured in Qha) generated during a monitoring period as a result of the project intervention.
Green Credit Programme	Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India	Encourages voluntary nature-positive projects across India	India	National	Voluntary/public	TBC
TBC (not yet launched)	Government of New Zealand	Nature credit scheme	New Zealand	National	Voluntary/public	TBC
Ocean Conservation Credits	Niue Ocean Wide Trust (Government of Niue)	Biodiversity credit scheme	Niue	National	Voluntary/public-private partnership between the Government of Niue and Tofia Niue, a local non- profit organization.	1 x Ocean Conservation Commitment = cost of conserving 1m² of Niue's Moana Mahu marine protected area for 20 years.
Ecosulis CreditNature	Natural Asset Recovery Investment Analytics (NARIA framework;	Rewilding expert specializing in habitat restoration, ecological consultancy, GIS mapping, biodiversity monitoring and green fintech.	UK	National	N/A	N/A
Credit Nature	Scottish government	The world’s first accredited ecosystem condition index	Scotland		Voluntary/private	Nature Impact Token
Savimbo	N/A	Social enterprise that pays Indigenous Peoples and subsistence farmers in tropical forests to preserve ecosystems. Savimbo certifies voluntary biodiversity credits, sells them internationally, and splits gross revenue.	Colombia	Colombia/South America	Voluntary/private	Voluntary Biodiversity Credits

Key milestones in development and legislation
DATE	MILESTONE	COUNTRY	GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE
1970s	Emergence of mitigation hierarchy concept First used in the US, the mitigation hierarchy sets out a sequential approach to addressing potential harm to biodiversity when determining planning applications. Read more in the Glossary.	US	N/A
1972	Clean Water Act US government makes it compulsory to avoid and minimize the impact on designated water bodies and provide compensatory mitigation for unavoidable impacts.	US	National
1973	U.S. Endangered Species Act The government introduces guidelines to protect biodiversity by saving endangered and threatened species from extinction.	US	National
1976	Federal Nature Conservation Act German legislation mandates that any habitat facing significant damage from human intervention must be offset.	Germany	National
1980s	Commercial wetland mitigation banks Government creates first commercial wetland mitigation banks, enabling developers to purchase credits to offset unavoidable wetland impacts (as mandated by the Clean Water Act).	US	National
1993	United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Nearly 200 nations ratify this unilateral treaty, designed to develop national strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity.	Multiple countries	Multiple countries
1993	Development of mitigation banking Mitigation banking evolves further with government issuing new national guidance supporting a market-oriented method. It supported off-site wetland mitigation in which a permittee purchases mitigation credits from a third-party mitigation bank. This entity, private, governmental, or non-governmental, promotes the no-net-loss policy by restoring or creating an area of wetland into a mitigation bank and selling compensatory mitigation credits to permittees.	US	National
2007	Launch of UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Broader awareness of the importance of nature as investment theme
2011	Business and Biodiversity Offsets Programme (BBOP) Principles Widely recognized set of standards for designing and implementing biodiversity offset projects, emphasizing "no net loss" and best practices. An international collaboration between companies, financial institutions, governments, and civil-society organizations working towards a net gain of biodiversity.	US	International
2012	EU No Net Loss initiative European Commission proposes a "no net loss" initiative to stop biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation in the EU by 2020.	EU	EU
2012	National Policy for the Integral Management of Biodiversity and its Ecosystem Services Colombia introduces national biodiversity offsetting legislation.	Colombia	National
2012	Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) Launched by the United Nations Development Programme, BIOFIN is a global initiative designed to address the challenge of financing biodiversity conservation, including by promoting innovative mechanisms like biodiversity offsets.	Global	International
2014	Habitat banks Terrasos establishes the first habitat banks in Colombia and South America in an initiative designed to use biodiversity credits to fund conservation and restoration activities. Today, Terrasos manages nine habitat banks spanning tropical rainforests, tropical dry forests, and cloud forests. To learn more about this topic, read our case study.	Latin America	Latin America
2016	National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Wetland Mitigation Banking Program NRCS, the USDA’s primary private lands conservation agency, launches Program to make biodiversity credits available to agricultural producers.	US	National
March 2022	Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) Beta Framework v0.1 released First steps toward creating a reporting standard to encourage companies to assess and disclose their nature impacts and dependencies.	UK	Global
May 2022	ClimateTrade (first blockchain-based climate marketplace) and Terrasos join forces to promote the conservation of highly endangered ecosystems via Voluntary Biodiversity Credits (VBCs).	Spain/Colombia	International
September 2022	10 Point Plan for Financing Biodiversity Involving more than 40 countries, this initiative aims to highlight the critical urgency of closing the biodiversity financing gap.	Multiple countries	Global
November 2022	NaturePlus™ biodiversity credit scheme Greencollar launches its NaturePlus™ biodiversity credit scheme.	Australia	National
December 2022	Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted 196 countries adopt the landmark GBF, focused on combating global biodiversity loss and preserving and restoring natural ecosystems. Crucially, the GBF recognizes biodiversity credits as one of the key ways to reach the goal of mobilising at least USD200B a year by 2030 for implementing countries’ biodiversity strategies.	Multiple countries	International
January 2023	Nature Markets Framework UK government announces launch of its framework for scaling up private investment in nature recovery and sustainable farming.	UK	National
February 2023	Nature Repair Market Bill World-first voluntary biodiversity market established under the country’s Nature Repair Act and administered by the Clean Energy Regulator.	Australia	National
March 2023	Libreville Plan Framework for protecting tropical rainforests and biodiversity, with a focus on sustainable development.	Australia	National
June 2023	International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits (IAPB) Establishment of the IAPB, an independent initiative to facilitate the creation and growth of high-integrity biodiversity credit markets and encourage enabling policy and regulatory mechanisms.	France/UK	International
October 2023	Finance for Biodiversity Pledge 200 financial institutions from 28 countries sign the Pledge, marking their commitment to protecting/restoring biodiversity through their finance activities and investments.	Multiple countries	International
December 2023	Plan Vivo Foundation launches PV Nature, its standalone biodiversity standard and biodiversity credits scheme.	UK	International
December 2023	10 Point Plan for Financing Biodiversity UK government defines a clear pathway for bridging the global biodiversity finance gap.	UK	Global
February 2024	Biodiversity net gain UK government mandates that developers must ensure their projects enhance biodiversity, leaving natural habitats in a better state than they were before development. If on-site or off-site habitat enhancements are not sufficient, developers can buy statutory biodiversity credits as a last resort. These credits are sold by the government to fund habitat creation and enhancement elsewhere. Read our case study to find out more.	England	National
April 2024	Mandatory BNG for small sites BNG becomes mandatory for small sites (developments with 1-9 dwellings or sites less than 1 hectare).	England	National
September 2024	Cercarbono, a Colombia-based certifier of carbon projects, approves a methodology to generate voluntary biodiversity credits.	Colombia	National
Octobe 2024	Verra's Nature Framework Verra launches its Nature Framework, an asset methodology designed to enable projects to quantify biodiversity outcomes and generate nature credits.	US	International
February 2025	Agreement on the first global strategy to finance biodiversity Reached at COP16 under the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Agreement aims to close the USD700B annual biodiversity funding gap by setting a framework for mobilizing financial resources to implement the GBF.	Multiple countries	International
June 2025	Expansion of voluntary nature credits market New Zealand’s Government announces plan to back the expansion of the country’s voluntary nature credits market.	New Zealand	National
May 2025	High-level Principles for the Biodiversity Credit Market Publication of principles to ensure the integrity of biodiversity credits - the result of a working group between the World Economic Forum, the Biodiversity Credit Alliance, and the International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits.

The nature credit markets landscape

Nature credit markets trace their roots back to the 1970s, when mitigation banking first emerged in the US. Over the past decade, growing recognition of the threat posed by nature degradation among governments and corporates has driven the proliferation of nature credit markets across the globe.

Historically, institutional investment into nature markets was constrained by project sizes that fell short of minimum investment thresholds, and the high emerging markets exposure of most opportunities.

The nature investment opportunity

As nature credit markets expand, both nature-based investment opportunities and risk-mitigation solutions are becoming increasingly suited—and increasingly attractive—to institutional investors:

Gaping funding shortfall

The GBF seeks to halt nature loss by 2030, and reverse it by 2050. This means closing a nature finance gap estimated at an eye-watering $700B per year. For private markets investors, this shortfall represents a highly significant investment opportunity to use nature credits to:

support the protection, conservation, and restoration of nature;
manage and mitigate nature-related risk within their own portfolios; and
enhance portfolio returns.

Supportive policy and standards

While government priorities can shift with political cycles, administrations are increasingly directing funds into natural capital, helping de-risk private investment in the process.

Meanwhile, multilateral agreements are underscoring the importance of nature, making future policy likely to reward nature-positive investments. And on the corporate front, frameworks like the TNFD and upcoming disclosure requirements from the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) will require companies to account for natural capital on their balance sheets.

Three investment categories

Investors can access nature markets via three main categories: nature-based solutions (NbS), business services, and technology. On the next page, we explain each category in more detail:

Ways to access nature markets

NbS

NbS are actions that protect, conserve, restore, and sustainably manage natural or modified ecosystems. In return for investing in land-based assets/projects that seek to implement land management practices that deliver these actions, investors receive nature credits. These credits can then be monetized either through compliance or voluntary markets, and represent one financial mechanism used to fund NbS.

Business services

The development of NbS projects is managed by a broad range of service providers across the value chain:

Project developers: Land sourcing, plus project design, documentation, and compliance.
Nature credits marketing: Buyer education and sales strategy.
Consultants: Support project developers and land holders with technical, data capture, measurement and reporting advice/services.
Credit ratings providers: Help project owners and credit buyers assess the quality/integrity of projects and the resulting nature credits.

Technology solutions

NatureTech will play a critical role in scaling nature-based solutions. Examples include:

Environmental DNA (eDNA): Analyzing eDNA samples—the genetic material that organisms shed into their environments— to pinpoint the species present in a specific area.

Computer vision: Processing satellite and drone imagery for monitoring deforestation, glacier melting, and land use.

Natural language processing (NLP): Extracting information from research papers, policy documents, and climate reports.

Geospatial AI (GeoAI): Integrating AI with geographic information systems (GIS) to study environmental trends and land use.

Internet of Things (IoT) sensors: Gathering real-time environmental data on air/water quality, temperature, and wildlife activity.

Machine learning & deep learning: Analyze large datasets to identify patterns in environmental changes.

Nature credits vs carbon credits

NATURE CREDITS	VS.	CARBON CREDITS
Preservation and/or restoration of nature	GOAL	Emission reduction/avoidance or carbon sequestration
Designed as a mechanism to support net nature ecosystem services gain + net biodiversity gain	MODEL	Mostly offsetting: primarily purchased and retired to offset the buyer's emissions.
No universal unit of measurement, but most credits are either species-/habitat-/ecosystem integrity-based. Lack of standardization make it hard to compare credits.	UNITS	All carbon projects are measured y tonnes of CO2e (tCO2e) sequestered or avoided. Greater standardization makes it easier to compare credits.
Local: Biodiversity is ecosystem specific, and restoration of one does not offset degradation of another. Consequently, trading of nature credits is region specific.	GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS	Global: GHG concentration in the atmosphere is a global phenomenon, and carbon credits can be traded globally.
Lower	LIQUIDITY	Higher
MRV is critical for demonstrating that the project has delivered the intended environmental outcome, like a measured increase in biodiversity.	MONITORING, REPORTING, & VERIFICATION (MRV)	MRV is crucial for proving that emissions reductions or removals have occurred, ensuring the integrity of the credit.
Often more expensive to implement than carbon credits due to their more complex, site-specific biodiversity metrics that require more extensive monitoring and validation.	IMPLEMENTATION COST	Usually cheaper to implement than nature credits due to their relative simplicity.
Higher. Nature is fundamentally local, so is inextricably tied to the ecosystem services that communities rely on.	COMMUNITY FOCUS	Lower, albeit increasing, recognition of the importance to drive alignment, particularly in the developing world.

Similarities, differences, and lessons to learn

While nature credit markets pre-date their carbon market counterparts, they have not grown to the same levels of activity given the recent focus on climate change.

However, nature markets can learn some lessons from their more established carbon peers—particularly from the voluntary carbon markets, which have faced the greatest scrutiny.

As an example, the core carbon principles of the International Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market are easily transferable to nature:

Governance: Independent oversight, tracking, transparency and robust independent third-party validation and verification.

Emissions impact: Additionality; permanence; robust quantification of emission reductions/removals; no double counting.

Sustainable development: Sustainable development benefits and safeguards; contribution to net-zero transition.

On the next page, we explore how nature credits could help benefit indigenous peoples & local communities (IPLCs)—the unpaid guardians of the world's most biodiverse regions.

Indigenous peoples & local communities (IPLCs)

Credit where credit's overdue

First tribally owned wetland mitigation bank in the US

In 2009, the Lummi Nation—a federally recognized tribe living on a reservation in Washington State—developed the first-ever tribally owned and operated commercial mitigation bank in the US. The Lummi Nation Wetland and Habitat Mitigation Bank was conceived in response to an inventory that exposed the loss of 90% of the Lummi's historical wetlands—part of the tribe's traditional hunting and fishing grounds.

So far, nearly 200 acres of wetlands have been enhanced, with the Lummi having sold $1.7M in credits both to public and private buyers. The revenue generated by the Bank allows the Lummi to restore and protect their culturally valuable wetland resources, while also enabling the development that their growing community needs.

IPLCs either manage or have tenure rights over at least 32% of global land and associated inland waters, but their protection and conservation of nature and ecosystem services goes largely unrecognized—and uncompensated. Nature credits could play a part in righting this historic inequity.

The UN Environmental Program (UNEP) describes IPLCs as “environmental defenders”, defining them as “individuals and groups who, in their personal or professional capacity and in a peaceful manner, strive to protect and promote human rights relating to the environment, including water, air, land, flora and fauna".

However, IPLCs' intimate connections to their traditional territories—and the generations of knowledge that come with it—have not been matched by the rights to the lands and resources under their stewardship.

Indeed, in some cases, IPLCs have even lost their lives while protecting their natural environment, while many more fall victim to intimidation, criminalization, and expulsion from their territories.

Engaging with nature restoration/protection programs that generate nature credits could improve the lives of IPLCs around the world while also delivering better outcomes for nature by:

properly compensating them for their stewardship of the natural world—in which they have a direct stake;
generating vital new sources of employment and income that align with nature-positive outcomes;
ensuring their voices are heard and their rights respected; and
leveraging their knowledge to develop more effective, locally relevant, and long-lasting conservation outcomes.

Biodiversity credits scheme
Challenge: Climate change is damaging the Great Barrier Reef, with threats including increasing levels of sediment, nutrients and contaminants, as well as rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification.
Location	Queensland, Australia	Founded	2020
Objective	To improve water quality across the Great Barrier Reef catchment	Manager/administrator	EcoMarkets Australia
Creators	Queensland Government GreenCollar - environmental markets investor/project developer Terrain NRM - natural resource management organization NQ Dry Tropics - natural resource management organization Neilly Group - environmental engineering specialist Agriprove - soil carbon solutions platform Verterra - full-service ecological engineering company Greening Australia - restoration and conservation of landscapes across Australia.	Initial funders	Australian Government’s Reef Trust The Great Barrier Reef Foundation Queensland Government's Wet Tropics Major Integrated Project.
Units of measurement	One EcoReef Credit is earned either for: every kg of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) prevented from entering the Reef catchment; or every 538kg of fine sediment prevented from entering the Reef catchment.

SNAPSHOT: THE REEF CREDIT SCHEME, AUSTRALIA

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Latin America & Colombia habitat banking pioneer
As one of the world’s “megadiverse” countries, Colombia is home to almost 10% of Earth's total biodiversity—and its system of habitat banks is key to its success. Habitat banks are areas of land that are managed for biodiversity conservation and restoration. Aligning with Colombia's national strategies and international agreements, the system aims to ensure "no net loss" of biodiversity—in other words, making that development projects don't cause a net loss of environmental assets.
Location	Colombia	Founded	2013
Objectives	Guarantee a sustainable future for communities Ensure a secure habitat for threatened species Achieve the restoration and conservation of vital ecosystems for the balance of our planet Safeguard essential ecosystem services.	Regulatory/voluntary	Both regulatory and voluntary biodiversity credits.
Key player	Terrasos: Environmental investment specialist Pioneer of Colombia's increasingly sophisticated nature credits market Creator of Latin America's first habitat bank in 2016 Uses its biodiversity credit system to fund the conservation and restoration of Colombia's most vulnerable ecosystems.	Unit of measurement	Voluntary biodiversity credit: the Terrasos Biodiversity Unit (Tebu) represents around 10m² of conserved or restored land for at least 30 years.
Species protected	290 species of birds, 76 mammals and 24 reptiles, including yellow-eared parrot, spectacled bear, and magnolia tree.	Habitats protected	Tropical rainforest, tropical dry forest, cloud forest
Terrasos habitat banks in Colombia
	Name	Location	Protected ecosystems
	El Meta	San Martín de los Llanos, Meta	Tropical rainforest
	La Lope	Valledupar, Cesar	Tropical dry forest
	Liborina	Liborina, Antioquia	Tropical dry forest
	El Globo	Támesis, Antioquia	Cloud forest
	Mata de Lata	Valledupar, Cesar	Tropical dry forest
	Aguadulce	Nilo, Cundinamarca	Tropical dry forest
	El Amparo	Puerto López, Meta	Tropical rainforest
	Mesa de San Pedro	Sabanalarga, Casanare	Tropical rainforest
	Yerrecuy	Tadó y Cértegui, Chocó	Tropical rainforest

SNAPSHOT: HABITAT BANKING, COLOMBIA

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Statutory BNG scheme
Legislation	Mandatory policy introduced under the Environment Act 2021	Location	England
Objective	Legislation requires developers to compensate for nature loss caused by land development, delivering an uplift of at least 10% in biodiversity compared to pre-development. The uplift can either be delivered via onsite recovery or through the purchase of credits for offsite habitat enhancement initiatives.	Scope	Applies to: developers of major developments; developers of small sites ; developers of nationally significant infrastructure projects from May 2026; land managers wanting to sell in the BNG market; and local planning authorities.
Managers/admninstrators	Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), UK Government: overall responsibility Natural England, an executive non-departmental public body, runs the gains site register and sell statutory biodiversity credits via The Register and Credit Sales Service. Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) manage BNG responsibilities within their own areas.	Key dates	February 2024: Launch of mandatory scheme for major developments. Residential developments: 10 or more dwellings, or a site area greater than 0.5 hectares. Non-residential developments: 1,000 square meters or more of non-residential floorspace. April 2024: Scheme extended to smaller sites (developments with nine houses or fewer, on less than 1 hectare of land).
		Policy input	Defra, Natural England, and Environment Bank all provided input into the development of the policy.
Metholodogies	Statutory Biodiversity Metric; BNG Small Sites Metric.	Units of measurement	Standard biodiversity units.

SNAPSHOT: BIODIVERSITY NET GAIN (BNG) POLICY, ENGLAND

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NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE WETLAND MITIGATION BANKING PROGRAM

A market-based environmental policy approach designed to back the restoration, creation, enhancement, or preservation of wetland sites (wetland mitigation banks) to offset impacts from development.
Objective	To protect nature, reduce harmful impacts, and hold developers accountable.	Location	US, nationwide
Federal-run regulators	US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Wetland Mitigation Banking Program	Regulatory/voluntary	Largely regulatory, with a growing voluntary element
Key players	Burns & McDonnell Ecosystem Investment Partners Wildlands The Barn Group Mitigation Banking Inc Weyerhaeuser	Units of measurement	Wetland banking mitigation credits. Each mitigation bank prices their credits differently based on wetland's Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method (UMAM) score. UMAM is a numerical rating from zero to 10 used to assess the ecological health and function of wetlands.

SNAPSHOT: WETLAND MITIGATION BANKING, US

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