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Development by design: blending landscape‐level planning with the mitigation hierarchy
Author(s) -
Kiesecker Joseph M,
Copeland Holly,
Pocewicz Amy,
McKenney Bruce
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1890/090005
Subject(s) - offset (computer science) , environmental resource management , environmental planning , sustainable development , hierarchy , risk analysis (engineering) , plan (archaeology) , analytic hierarchy process , biodiversity , computer science , business , environmental science , operations research , engineering , geography , ecology , archaeology , economics , market economy , biology , programming language
Compensatory mitigation, or biodiversity offsets, provide a mechanism for maintaining or enhancing environmental values in situations where development is being planned, despite detrimental environmental impacts. Offsets are generally intended as an option for addressing any remaining environmental impacts of a development plan, after efforts have been made to avoid, minimize, or restore on‐site impacts. Although offset programs require that developers adhere to the mitigation hierarchy to avoid, minimize, and restore biodiversity on‐site before considering an offset for residual impacts, no quantitative guidelines exist for this decision‐making process. What criteria are needed to require that impacts be minimized or avoided altogether? Here, we examine how conservation planning can provide a way to address this issue. By blending landscape‐level conservation planning with application of the mitigation hierarchy, we can ensure that the use of biodiversity offsets is consistent with sustainable development practices.