REGENERATE DESTINATIONS

Consider how your operations and destination activities depend on nature and its ecosystem services. For example, an accommodation provider may rely heavily on the availability of freshwater, whilst a tour operator will rely on an abundance of wildlife. Also, take a close look at your impact on biodiversity – do your activities produce a lot of greenhouse gases, pollution or plastic waste, or do they put pressure on sensitive habitats on land or in the sea?

ANIMONDIAL will scope your business’ interface with nature, following the double materiality approach, to help you identify the factors that are key to its future resilience. Protecting and enhancing those factors (e.g. clean freshwater courses) represents an important business investment. We will also consider how your actions for biodiversity can achieve additional benefits, for instance by uplifting local communities or providing Nature-based Solutions (such as climate mitigation and adaptation, flood and drought management, enhancement of local fisheries, reduction of urban heat stress, etc.).

The ‘state of nature’ is a term used to encompass the functionality of ecosystems and the abundance of species in a given area or location. Typically, it is evaluated by measuring species abundance (number of individuals), distribution (proportion of sites occupied) and extinction risk, which requires access to the latest data from biological monitoring and recording activities. 

ANIMONDIAL can provide a detailed and comprehensive assessment of the state of nature in a given location using a range of biodiversity-related data and policy references, such as National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans, to ensure your investment in nature is best placed.  

Biodiversity actions should be focused on areas where your business has the greatest interface with nature. Assessing this should include both the direct assets and operations of the business as well as your (upward and downward) value chains. Key locations may be where your business has the greatest footfall, where the location is particularly biodiverse, or where business operations and activities are particularly reliant on natural resources or have substantial impacts on them.

ANIMONDIAL will help you identify where your investment is most needed and what opportunities exist to make it as efficient and effective as possible.

Not necessarily. While operations in protected areas may be regulated to ensure that any damage to biodiversity is limited, activities elsewhere can be managed responsibly and may even incentivise nature protection in otherwise neglected locations. Consideration should be given to the local context, the current state of nature, and the protection status. In locations of high biodiversity value, tourism activities are often limited or prohibited, but elsewhere they may provide essential revenues that support park operations, such as ranger patrols or local community outreach.

ANIMONDIAL can help you navigate this complexity using the latest and the best biodiversity data to identify protected areas and areas of high biodiversity value. With access to the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT), for example, ANIMONDIAL can identify conservation priorities and restoration opportunities in any location.

Working with the right nature protection or restoration organisation can not only be a very effective way to contribute to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, it can also enable a wide range of business benefits. However, it is important to choose your partner carefully to ensure they are reputable and effective, and that their activities align with the business’ biodiversity priorities.

ANIMONDIAL’s Animal Protection Network (APN) is a collection of pre-approved animal and nature protection organisations that are credible, impactful and ready to engage in meaningful corporate partnerships. We can identify the most suitable partner for your business and help establish a mutually beneficial relationship. If none of our existing APN members prove to be the right fit, we also offer a bespoke Biodiversity Partnerships service to find a suitable on-the-ground organisation in your chosen destination and screen them to ensure credibility and good practice.

Nature restoration actions should be targeted to counter-balance the business’ impacts on nature. This includes not only direct impacts, where the main operations are based, but also the impacts generated throughout the value chain: through the supply of services such as transport, accommodation and activities, of goods such as food and toiletries, and the impacts arising from overall tourist presence and infrastructure. Through these indirect effects, many businesses based in wealthier countries have substantial impacts in less wealthy countries (which often have greater biodiversity) – so it is important that they support nature protection and restoration activities there.

ANIMONDIAL can lead you through the whole process of assessing your impacts, both at main operation sites and across your destinations, identifying which need to be compensated for most urgently, and selecting suitable partners to enable you to achieve your strategic objectives. We can also support you in finding ways to measure and monitor biodiversity in your key locations, for instance through the use of environmental DNA, which can also contribute to global conservation knowledge and planning through the eBioAtlas.

Yes, there are many nature conservation actions that also capture carbon, reduce future emissions or support climate change adaptation. These are generally referred to as Natural Climate Solutions – one form of Nature-based Solution. This includes tree planting, when it is conducted as part of a well-planned project to restore natural ecosystems, but many other activities perform a similar function.

One example is peatland, which can store a substantial amount of carbon. In the UK, three-quarters of peatlands are damaged or degraded, releasing the equivalent of 5% of UK greenhouse emissions each year. As well as storing carbon, this habitat also helps regulate water flow, reducing the risk of floods and droughts downstream. So, protecting and restoring peatlands removes and stores atmospheric carbon and improves our resilience to ongoing climate change, while also boosting biodiversity.

ANIMONDIAL can help you identify opportunities to engage with nature restoration actions that also support climate change mitigation and adaptation. We can also help you strategically align these goals by creating a bespoke integrated Nature Positive Policy and Strategy which unites all your environmental sustainability initiatives.