Inter-American Development Bank
facebook
twitter
youtube
linkedin
instagram
Abierto al públicoBeyond BordersCaribbean Development TrendsCiudades SosteniblesEnergía para el FuturoEnfoque EducaciónFactor TrabajoGente SaludableGestión fiscalGobernarteIdeas MatterIdeas que CuentanIdeaçãoImpactoIndustrias CreativasLa Maleta AbiertaMoviliblogMás Allá de las FronterasNegocios SosteniblesPrimeros PasosPuntos sobre la iSeguridad CiudadanaSostenibilidadVolvamos a la fuente¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?Home
Citizen Security and Justice Creative Industries Development Effectiveness Early Childhood Development Education Energy Envirnment. Climate Change and Safeguards Fiscal policy and management Gender and Diversity Health Labor and pensions Open Knowledge Public management Science, Technology and Innovation  Trade and Regional Integration Urban Development and Housing Water and Sanitation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sostenibilidad

Just another web-blogs Sites site

  • HOME
  • CATEGORIES
    • Agriculture and Food Security
    • Climate change
    • Ecosystems and Biodiversity
    • Environmental and Social Safeguards
    • Infrastructure and Sustainable Landscapes
    • Institutionality
    • Responsible Production and Consumption
  • Authors
  • English
    • Español

Is Infrastructure a Threat or an Opportunity to conserve our Biodiversity?

December 7, 2015 por Janine Ferretti Leave a Comment


Governments and multilateral development banks around the world now recognize the social and economic importance of biodiversity. Despite this, a major gap between current funding levels for biodiversity projects (US$53 billion annually) and total estimated need (US$300-400 billion annually) remains.

With no major increase in biodiversity financing on the horizon, new ways to protect and enhance biodiversity must be identified. One solution being championed by the IDB is to ensure that new development in general, and infrastructure development in particular, is done in a way that prevents biodiversity loss. In some cases, these projects can even help secure the conservation of ecosystems.

The importance of biodiversity cannot be overstated. This is especially true in Latin America and the Caribbean, home to 40% of the world’s biodiversity and 50% of remaining tropical rain forests, plus a significant dependence on ecosystem services for food, energy, and employment.

Unfortunately, biodiversity is being lost an alarming rate, often due to land-use changes and fragmentation caused by roads, transmission lines, hydropower facilities, and other infrastructure. Meanwhile, loans to support biodiversity remain as rare as some endangered species.

Although loans for infrastructure development lag behind the region’s needs, financing of these projects is far more common than for biodiversity conservation. In 2014 alone, IDB approved US$4.7 billion in infrastructure projects for roads, energy, water, and more. With all financing sources combined, more than US$150 billion was invested in infrastructure development in Latin America and the Caribbean. By contrast the IDB provides US$3-4 million annually for biodiversity protection and ecosystem services.

Unfortunately, infrastructure development and biodiversity don’t always go hand-in-hand. Various assessments on the state of biodiversity over the past ten years have pointed to infrastructure development as one of the key enablers of biodiversity loss. With funding of biodiversity lagging, it’s unrealistic to think that biodiversity conservation can keep up with the fast-paced rate of infrastructure development.

To address this challenge head-on, IDB has taken an approach that injects biodiversity considerations into the design and operation of infrastructure projects. While the primary goal is to avoid negative impacts on biodiversity, we find that in getting the mitigation measures right these projects actually contribute to the improved management and conservation of biodiversity.

We now have excellent examples of how effective management of environmental and social impact can safeguard biodiversity. These projects include:

  • Reventazon Hydroelectric Project (Costa Rica): An integrated program of reforestation, payments for ecosystem services, and engagement with local landowners ensuring that the major biological corridor Barbilla-Destierro, frequented by jaguars, was preserved and supported. The project also pioneered Latin America’s first aquatic offset.
  • Chaglla (Peru): This project followed the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol and scored extremely well by selecting its location with a high level of scrutiny, focusing on a minimal social and environmental footprint. It also contributed to the discovery of a several new species and understanding their distribution patterns, as well conservation measures and an offset.
  • Caracol Industrial Park (Haiti): Mitigation efforts for the industrial park resulted in the establishment of Three Bays National Park. Additionally, officials are implementing a long-term management plan that will provide for alternative livelihoods for local communities

It is through effective safeguard policies and sound practices that international financing can mainstream biodiversity into infrastructure, ensuring that both biodiversity and infrastructure objectives can be met, particularly by:

  • Minimizing negative impacts through a mitigation hierarchy and by respecting “no go” zones
  • Providing for surveys and monitoring, which serve to further conservation science and knowledge
  • Developing and refining new methodologies such as baseline data collection, predictive modeling of indirect impacts, among others.
  • Contributing to the capacity and institutional development of borrowers and local agencies
  • Insisting on robust alternatives analysis, which can lead to reduction in the project’s foot prints.

IDB has learned its share of lessons as well, and our practices and those of other multilateral development banks will continue to evolve as more efforts are made to merge the two important goals of biodiversity conservation and infrastructure provision.  These lessons are being captured in the development of joint guidance documents on Good Practices for the Collection of Biodiversity Baseline Data; and Good Practices for Biodiversity Inclusive Impact Assessment and Management Planning which have been endorsed by a number of multilateral financial institutions.

We cannot do this alone. The role of national planning agencies in particular is critical to creating a major shift in thinking that development and biodiversity are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, they can support and benefit each other.

Book    Book2


Filed Under: Environmental and Social Safeguards

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Subscribe

SEARCH

Sustainability

This blog is a space to reflect about the challenges, opportunities and the progress made by Latin American and Caribbean countries on the path towards the region’s sustainable development.

SIMILAR POSTS

  • Good vs bad biodiversity management, can you tell which is which?
  • The boom of biodiversity offsets: innovative mechanisms for maintaining healthy ecosystems
  • Making Biodiversity Mainstream: Countdown to the COP 13
  • The path of the big cat: How mitigation hierarchy can help maintain biodiversity in the Americas
  • Three Key Steps to Prevent the Demise of the World’s Biodiversity

Footer

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
facebook
twitter
youtube
youtube
youtube

    Blog posts written by Bank employees:

    Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank ("IDB"). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. (CC-IGO 3.0 BY-NC-ND) license and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC- IGO license. Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.


    For blogs written by external parties:

    For questions concerning copyright for authors that are not IADB employees please complete the contact form for this blog.

    The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDB, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.

    Attribution: in addition to giving attribution to the respective author and copyright owner, as appropriate, we would appreciate if you could include a link that remits back the IDB Blogs website.



    Privacy Policy

    Derechos de autor © 2025 · Magazine Pro en Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

    Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo

    Aviso Legal

    Las opiniones expresadas en estos blogs son las de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, sus directivas, la Asamblea de Gobernadores o sus países miembros.

    facebook
    twitter
    youtube
    This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser.
    To learn more about cookies, click here
    x
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT