Literary survey of no net loss of biodiversity and examples from around the world

Achieving no net loss of biodiversity (NNL) is a principle for reconciling nature values with human activity. The aim is to compensate, in full, the negative impacts caused to biodiversity. At the same time, efforts are often made to prevent human activity from harming ecosystem services and the recreational use of the environment.

The survey presents the background of the principle and the concepts needed to discuss the topic. In Finland, the concept of no net loss of biodiversity, or, the application of the mitigation hierarchy, has not been established, but the Nature Conservation Act (9/2023) provides voluntary compensation for weakening nature values. In this way, many policies and practices related to ecological compensation are being developed.

The report describes examples from other countries as well as agreements and regulations that include guidelines and practices aiming to achieve no net loss of biodiversity. Similarly, policies and practices to prevent and reduce harm to quality and quantity of green areas and ecosystem services are also presented.

In the light of international experiences, achieving no net loss of biodiversity is a relatively good guiding principle and objective. In the management of impacts on nature, prior to ecological compensation or biodiversity offsets, the preceding steps of the mitigation hierarchy, i.e. the avoidance and reduction of harm and the restoration of nature, are known to be effective. The objective of no net loss of biodiversity can direct people and operators to use these steps, as biodiversity offsets are both an expensive and uncertain solution due to the risks it contains.

Compensation for harm to nature is the last resort in the mitigation hierarchy. Its application requires a credible valuation method that examines the required ecological compensation and the value of the compensation. It also needs to work in the local conditions. The lack of monitoring and control of implementation has been generally identified as a problem of biodiversity offsets. The transparency of the offset registry helps, to an extent, with these challenges. It is important to identify and consider the eco-social impacts so that ecological compensation does not lead to undesired effects, such as a decrease in green areas.