Integrating ecological equivalence for native vegetation compensation: A methodological approach

Author(s):Show less -

de Mello, Kaline ^[1] ; Fendrich, Arthur Nicolaus ^[2] ; Borges-Matos, Clarice ^[1] ; Brites, Alice Dantas ^[2] ; Tavares, Paulo Andre ^[2] ; Rocha, Gustavo Casoni da ^[3] ; Matsumoto, Marcelo ^[4] ; Rodrigues, Ricardo Ribeiro ^[5] ; Joly, Carlos Alfredo ^[6] ; Sparovek, Gerd ^[2] ; Metzger, Jean Paul ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biosci, Dept Ecol, Rua Do Matao 321, Trav 14, BR-05508090 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Luiz Queiroz Coll Agr, Soil Sci Dept, Av Padua Dias 11, BR-13418900 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[3] Secretariat Infrastruct & Environm State Sao Paul, Av Prof Frederico Hermann Jr 345, BR-05459900 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[4] WRI Brasil, Rua Claudio Soares 72, Cj 1510, BR-05422030 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[5] Univ Sao Paulo, Luiz Queiroz Coll Agr, Dept Biol Sci, Av Padua Dias 11, BR-13418260 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[6] State Univ Campinas UNICAMP, Biol Inst, Dept Plant Biol, Rua Monteiro Lobato 255, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: LAND USE POLICY; v. 108, SEP 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

Although offsetting schemes may avoid biodiversity loss, the implementation of these schemes can be challenging, given the difficulty of balancing biodiversity benefits with the resulting increase in compensation costs. Here we have developed a novel offsetting methodological approach to balance environmental gains and land availability to support the decision-making process and negotiations among stakeholders. We applied this approach for the compensation of Legal Reserves, a percentage of native vegetation area that landowners have to set apart in their rural properties in Brazil to maintain native vegetation. If landowners do not reach the Legal Reserves requirements on their land according to the law, they may compensate it in other equivalent properties. To balance environmental gains and land availability, we have developed a dynamic tool that allows users to objectively analyze results from multiple offsetting scenarios. These scenarios can combine different levels of abiotic and biotic equivalence requirements, along with the possibility of trading up, i.e. compensating in priority natural vegetation areas and/or priority areas for restoration, even without high equivalence, with the resulting balance on land availability. The proposed approach seeks to find acceptable solutions, balancing stakeholder requirements for ecological equivalence, land availability, and possibilities of trading up. This procedure can enhance the local trade of Legal Reserves compensation, minimizing biodiversity losses, and also reducing costs. Our case study shows that it is possible to apply ecological equivalence in a balanced manner for Legal Reserve compensation. Owing to its flexibility, the proposed approach and tool can be easily adopted by other compensation schemes worldwide, supporting the negotiation and decision-making processes, to reduce biodiversity loss. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/07375-0 - CeMEAI - Center for Mathematical Sciences Applied to Industry
• Grantee: José Alberto Cuminato
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research, Innovation and Dissemination Centers - RIDC
• FAPESP's process: 13/50718-5 - Ecological restoration of riparian forests, native forest of economic production and of degraded forest fragments (in APP and RL) based on restoration ecology of reference ecosystems in order to scientifically test the precepts of the New Brazilian Forest Code
• Grantee: Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 16/17680-2 - Priority areas for Legal Reserve offsetting: research for the development of a decision making tool to enhance transparency in the implementation process of the environmental adjustment program (Programa de Regularização Ambiental - PRA) in São Paulo
• Grantee: Gerd Sparovek
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 17/24028-2 - Elaboration of a priority areas map for Legal Reserve compensation in the State of São Paulo and development of an automated tool prototype to query geo-referenced information
• Grantee: Kaline de Mello
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 18/25147-8 - Developing a methodological framework to evaluate scenarios of native vegetation compensation
• Grantee: Kaline de Mello
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor