Das Forschungsprojekt Agora Natura entwickelt einen virtuellen Marktplatz für Ökosystemleistungen

Im Rahmen des Forschungs- und Umsetzungsprojekts AgoraNatura arbeiten Kolleginnen und Kollegen aus Wissenschaft, Umweltschutz und Landschaftspflege an der Entwicklung eines internetbasierten Marktplatzes für Ökosystemleistungen und Biodiversität. Angebote zum Erhalt oder der vermehrten Bereitstellung von Ökosystemleistungen und Biodiversität können aus der Land- und Forstwirtschaft, von den Landschaftspflege- und Naturschutzverbänden, aus Kommunen und Stiftungen oder von anderen Flächenbesitzer*innen kommen. Auf der Nachfrageseite sprechen wir Unternehmen und Privatpersonen an. Mit dem marktwirtschaftlich orientierten Mechanismus soll die Lücke geschlossen werden zwischen staatlichen Naturschutzprogrammen, der Finanzierung durch Spenden und der verpflichtenden Kompensation von Umweltauswirkungen.

Die Angebote auf dem Marktplatz werden sich dadurch auszeichnen, dass ihre Wirkungen auf Ökosystemleistungen und die biologische Vielfalt mit Hilfe wissenschaftlicher Methoden quantifiziert werden. Dadurch werden die Angebote vergleichbar, überprüfbar und transparent. Im Mittelpunkt von AgoraNatura stehen Angebote, die Biodiversität und Ökosystemleistungen im Zusammenhang mit der agrarisch genutzten Kulturlandschaft bereitstellen. Denn hier besteht akuter Handlungsbedarf: Während in der Gesellschaft die Nachfrage nach intakten Kulturlandschaften und biologischer Vielfalt sowie der Bereitstellung von Ökosystemleistungen stark zunimmt, wird durch die Agrarpolitik immer noch eine intensive Landbewirtschaftung gefördert, die die Leistungsfähigkeit der Ökosysteme und die biologische Vielfalt gefährdet.

Mit Hilfe von AgoraNatura soll das Bewusstsein für Ökosystemleistungen und Biodiversität, insbesondere in der Kulturlandschaft, gestärkt und ein Beitrag zum Schutz und der vermehrten Bereitstellung von Ökosystemleistungen und Biodiversität geleistet werden. Geplant ist der Start des Online-Marktplatzes für 2018. Er soll langfristig, auch nach Ende des Forschungs- und Umsetzungsprojekts im Sommer 2021, bestehen und dann als unabhängiger Marktplatz für mehr Natur in Deutschland weiter betrieben werden.

Quelle: http://project2.zalf.de/AgoraNatura/index.php/ziele/

Positive Biodiversity–Productivity Relationship Predominant in Global Forests

Research by the Global Forest Biodiversity Initiative shows that a “positive and consistent relationship” can be discerned between tree diversity and ecosystem productivity.

The GFBI states:

“The biodiversity–productivity relationship (BPR) is foundational to our understanding of the global extinction crisis and its impacts on ecosystem functioning. Understanding BPR is critical for the accurate valuation and effective conservation of biodiversity. Using ground-sourced data from 777,126 permanent plots, spanning 44 countries and most terrestrial biomes, we reveal a globally consistent positive concave-down BPR, whereby a continued biodiversity loss would result in an accelerating decline in forest productivity worldwide. The value of biodiversity in maintaining commercial forest productivity alone—US$166–490 billion per year according to our estimation—is by itself over two to six times the total estimated cost that would be necessary for effective global conservation. This highlights the need for a worldwide re-assessment of biodiversity values, forest management strategies, and conservation priorities.”

Source: http://www.gfbinitiative.org/research

Financial industry, international organisations, and academic sector launch the “Coalition for Private Investment in Conservation” with the aim to create investment opportunities and tools to help bring conservation projects to the marketplace

Honolulu, HI (2 September 2016) — In an effort to address an estimated US $200-300 billion annual funding gap in conservation, civil society organisations, private and public sector financial institutions and academia joined forces today to launch the Coalition for Private Investment in Conservation (CPIC) during the IUCN World Conservation Congress taking place in Hawaiʻi. The Coalition’s goal is to help preserve the world’s most important ecosystems by creating new opportunities for return-seeking private investment in conservation.

The Coalition, which includes Credit Suisse, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and Cornell University as the founding members, plans to develop new investment models and funding pipelines that will help close the current conservation funding gap and contribute to the global goals for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

Building on the expertise and experience of the various partners, CPIC will serve as a hub, connecting investors and financial institutions with in-country partners, who can help develop and execute investable deals that eventually produce an environmental and financial return. Initially, the Coalition plans to focus on several priority investment sectors: forest landscape restoration, sustainable agriculture intensification, sustainable coastal fisheries and resilience, and watershed management.

“We are at a critical turning point in history, where all stakeholders are increasingly aware of the urgency of sustaining nature for the benefit of all,” says IUCN Director General Inger Andersen. “Public sector finance and philanthropic capital alone is not sufficient to meet these challenges. This new Coalition will serve as a critical platform to share expertise, stimulate innovation, and help scale up sustainable investment models, and raise awareness of the potential importance of private capital to conservation.”

Conservation finance represents a massive, undeveloped private sector investment. Research suggests private investors—wealthy individuals, pension funds, other institutional investors and even mainstream retail investors—could supply as much as the $200 billion to $300 billion per year needed to preserve the world’s most important ecosystems.

“This coalition is crucially important both because of the size of the investment opportunity and the positive environmental impacts that developing this area of finance could have,” says John Tobin-de la Puente, Professor of Practice jointly appointed in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University and the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs in Cornell’s College of Human Ecology. “Right now, development of a conservation investment market is probably 10 years behind the market for renewable energy, and 20 years behind the affordable housing market. We have the opportunity to generate a brand new market for conservation investment if we figure this out together.”

“The finance sector is increasingly aware that investing in nature can generate returns for both the environment and the economy,” says Fabian Huwyler, Vice President of Sustainability Affairs at Credit Suisse. “If we want private investors to help close the conservation funding gap, the conservation and finance communities need to better collaborate to shift the field from small, donor-driven projects to large-scale conservation markets.”

“We already bring a wealth of experience into this Coalition,” says Lynn Scarlett, Managing Director of Public Policy for The Nature Conservancy. “At the Conservancy, we have already facilitated six impact investment deals totalling $200 million dollars in marine conservation and agriculture, and this new coalition should help us bridge our largest challenge, which is a lack of investment projects in the pipeline. We’ll know we’ve reached success when the big banks have enough projects as options that they can pick and choose where conservation investment will have the most significant impact.”

Source: www.iucn.org