Habitat banking “dangerous”, warns WWF Brazil

Article Type: News From: Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Volume 22, Issue 4

Schemes allowing companies to offset environmental damage by funding projects that encourage biodiversity and reforestation are “dangerous”,according to WWF Brazil, which is very wary of tapping into more funds via so-called habitat banking mechanisms, an idea that has secured support from the UN and is currently being investigated by the British government.

Habitat banking would be loosely modelled on the carbon offset market,letting farmers, businesses or national agencies in biodiversity hotspots develop protection schemes that would allow them to sell credits to companies or developers whose activities damage the environment. WWF is concerned that habitat banking might lead to enclaves of protected areas far away from where the initial environmental damage is being done.