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‘Nature positive’ must incorporate, not undermine, the mitigation hierarchy

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For the concept of nature positive to succeed as the lodestar for international action on biodiversity conservation, it must build upon lessons learned from the application of the mitigation hierarchy — or risk becoming mere greenwash.

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Fig. 1: Only high-integrity accounting will genuinely support the goal of nature positive.

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Acknowledgements

All authors (except M.C.E) are members of IUCN’s Thematic Group on Impact Mitigation and Ecological Compensation, part of the Commission on Ecosystem Management, and thank group members for valuable discussions on the topic. J.P.G.J. thanks the Prince Bernhard Chair foundation for funding. S.O.S.E.z.E. is supported by EU Horizon 2020 project SUPERB (systemic solutions for upscaling of urgent ecosystem restoration for forest related biodiversity), (grant ref: GA 101036849). E.J.M.-G. acknowledges support from the Leverhulme Trust via its support for the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of the Environment, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Martine Maron

  2. Centre for Biodiversity & Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Martine Maron

  3. Rewilding Europe, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Fabien Quétier

  4. Terrasos, Bogotá, Colombia

    Mariana Sarmiento

  5. Independent consultant, London, UK

    Kerry ten Kate

  6. Public Service Research Group, School of Business, University of New South Wales, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Megan C. Evans

  7. Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Joseph W. Bull, Sophus O. S. E. zu Ermgassen & E. J. Milner-Gulland

  8. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Bangor University, Bangor, UK

    Julia P. G. Jones

  9. Department of Biology, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Julia P. G. Jones

  10. Susie Brownlie & Associates, Cape Town, South Africa

    Susie Brownlie

  11. eCountability Ltd, Cullompton, UK

    Jo Treweek

  12. Wildlife Conservation Society, Cape Town, South Africa

    Amrei von Hase

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  1. Martine Maron
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  2. Fabien Quétier
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  4. Kerry ten Kate
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  5. Megan C. Evans
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  6. Joseph W. Bull
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  7. Julia P. G. Jones
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  8. Sophus O. S. E. zu Ermgassen
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  9. E. J. Milner-Gulland
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  10. Susie Brownlie
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  11. Jo Treweek
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martine Maron.

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Competing interests

The authors declare the following associations relevant to this material; in their various roles with these organizations, all authors promote international good practice in conserving biodiversity and mitigating impacts. M.M., F.Q., M.C.E, S.O.S.E.z.E., E.J.M.-G., K.t.K. and A.v.H. have advised government, nongovernment organizations and industry bodies on nature positive and the mitigation hierarchy. Terrasos (M.S.) provides advisory services for companies applying the mitigation hierarchy and provides biodiversity compensation solutions through habitat banks and other means. Rewilding Europe (F.Q.) has a commercial arm that invests in ecosystem restoration projects in Europe. J.W.B. directs Wild Business Ltd, which provides research-based technical advisory services for selected organizations implementing nature-positive strategies or applying the mitigation hierarchy. Susie Brownlie & Associates (S.B.) advises environmental nongovernmental organizations on good practice in impact assessment and mitigation, and on occasion supports developers in designing and implementing offsets. K.t.K. is a non-executive director of Finance Earth, a mission-driven social enterprise, working in partnership with environmental organizations to protect and restore nature using market-based mechanisms and implementing bespoke financial tools. eCountability Ltd (J.T.) advises on best practice implementation of the mitigation hierarchy and natural capital assessment and accounting.

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Maron, M., Quétier, F., Sarmiento, M. et al. ‘Nature positive’ must incorporate, not undermine, the mitigation hierarchy. Nat Ecol Evol 8, 14–17 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02199-2

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