No Net Loss and Net Positive Impact Approaches for Biodiversity

Exploring the potential application of these approaches in the commercial agriculture and forestry sectors

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This report is an outcome of an exploratory workshop held
by IUCN in October 2013, and subsequent discussions
in 2014, of a working group of relevant business and
conservation experts (see authorship and participation
on page 3). The working group was convened by
IUCN’s Global Business and Biodiversity Programme. It
is the beginning of a sector-specific discussion on the
application and challenges of NPI approaches in business
sectors with significant biodiversity impacts.
The objectives of this report are:
1) To learn from the NNL/NPI experience of the E&I sectors,
and propose an organizing framework for applying NNL/
NPI approaches in other business sectors; and, 2) To
explore the potential for applying NPI approaches in A&F
sectors. It outlines a five stage process to implement a
generic NPI approach (see Figure 2 page 17), and describes
what this process could look like when implemented in
three hypothetical A&F landscape scenarios: 1) existing
managed land, 2) using ecologically degraded land, and
3) expanding into new legally authorised concessions.
This report builds on existing sustainability efforts of the
A&F sectors (e.g. sustainability standards) and outlines
the potential benefits an NPI approach could add in
relevant situations (see Figure 5 page 32). It focuses
mainly on voluntary efforts companies can take for NPI for
biodiversity, and does not include issues related to public
policy, ecosystem services, or socio–economic conditions.
While these are important issues to consider, the working
group decided to limit the scope of an already broad topic.