Doubt
has been shed on the effectiveness of ecosystem 'offsetting'. This is
the practice of permitting damage to or total destruction of an
ecosystem on the basis that it can be rebuilt or relocated. There is
fear that policymakers do not fully understand the monetary costs or
difficulty of restoring biodiversity when this method is used- it is
very expensive to attempt to create an entire new eco
system
from waste land. It is a risky tactic as there is no guarantee that new
ecosystems will achieve the biodiversity level of the ecosystem it is
supposed to be replacing- a forest of saplings is unlikely to support
the same biodiversity and species as an ancient woodland!
That
is not to say that the 'offsetting' of ecosystems is never a viable
option, there are some very successful (and expensive) examples such as
Perth's Kings Park and Jarrah Forest restoration work by aluminium
producer Alcoa. However it is never certain that the former biodiversity
level will be reached - and it is hard to tell if you have successfully
restored as there are different ways of measuring biodiversity.
Source:
http://www.ecology.com/2012/
That article is on this Biological Conservation paper (which is behind a paywall):
http://www.sciencedirect.com/
Doubt
has been shed on the effectiveness of ecosystem 'offsetting'. This is
the practice of permitting damage to or total destruction of an
ecosystem on the basis that it can be rebuilt or relocated. There is
fear that policymakers do not fully understand the monetary costs or
difficulty of restoring biodiversity when this method is used- it is
very expensive to attempt to create an entire new eco
system
from waste land. It is a risky tactic as there is no guarantee that new
ecosystems will achieve the biodiversity level of the ecosystem it is
supposed to be replacing- a forest of saplings is unlikely to support
the same biodiversity and species as an ancient woodland!
That is not to say that the 'offsetting' of ecosystems is never a viable option, there are some very successful (and expensive) examples such as Perth's Kings Park and Jarrah Forest restoration work by aluminium producer Alcoa. However it is never certain that the former biodiversity level will be reached - and it is hard to tell if you have successfully restored as there are different ways of measuring biodiversity.
Source:
http://www.ecology.com/2012/
That article is on this Biological Conservation paper (which is behind a paywall):
http://www.sciencedirect.com/
That is not to say that the 'offsetting' of ecosystems is never a viable option, there are some very successful (and expensive) examples such as Perth's Kings Park and Jarrah Forest restoration work by aluminium producer Alcoa. However it is never certain that the former biodiversity level will be reached - and it is hard to tell if you have successfully restored as there are different ways of measuring biodiversity.
Source:
http://www.ecology.com/2012/
That article is on this Biological Conservation paper (which is behind a paywall):
http://www.sciencedirect.com/
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