Les mesures compensatoires sont devenues ces dernières années un outil de gestion majeur dans la conservation de la biodiversité. Elles sont de plus en plus utilisées dans les nouvelles réglementations environnementales. Ce concept de compensation environnementale soulève de nombreux enjeux qui intéressent autant l’écologue, le géographe, l’économiste que le juriste.

The Anthropocene era has been marked by such significant human pressure that it has led to the sixth mass extinction. The Baseline Concept in Biodiversity Conservation interprets human domination of the Earth as the process of gradual landscape change, the execution of which is neither linear nor homogeneous. This book is structured around three key questions: Where and when did everything go wrong? How do we define baseline states for biodiversity conservation strategies? How are reference states mobilized in a concrete way through case studies? Today, biodiversity conservation faces a dilemma that this book sheds light on: return to states less modified by humans than today but in a world that has changed significantly; or, let the nature of tomorrow express itself where it still can but without a road map.

This book deals with the new concept of biodiversity offsets. The aim of offsetting schemes is to achieve no let loss or even net gain of biodiversity. Offsets obey a mitigation hierarchy and reflect the precautionary and polluter-pays principle in regard to project impacts. Readers gain insights into current debates on biodiversity policies, with top experts outlining theoretical principles and the latest research findings. At the same time the focus is on practical application and case studies. Today there is a lively international discussion among practitioners and scientists on the optimal legal framework, metrics and design of habitat banks to ensure the success of biodiversity offsets and to minimise the risks of failure or misuse. Contributing to the debate, this volume presents the activities and practices of biodiversity offsetting already implemented in Europe in selected EU member states, and the lessons that can be learnt from them. Readers may be surprised at how much experience already exists in these countries. A further aim of the book is to offer grounded insights on the road ahead, and foster a more intensive and fruitful discussion on how offsetting can be extended and improved upon, so that it becomes a key and effective component of Europe’s biodiversity conservation policy framework.

We are witnessing an alarming, global biodiversity crisis with an ongoing loss of species and their habitats. In response, a number of tools and approaches – including some that are contested – are being explored and promoted. Biodiversity offsets are one such approach, and deserve critical examination since the debate surrounding them has often been oversimplified and lacking practical evidence. As such, this study presents a refined typology including seven types of biodiversity offsets and taking into account different contexts, governance arrangements and drivers. It draws on a detailed analysis of theoretical concepts to explain the voluntary implementation of biodiversity offsets using an internet-based (netnographic) research approach. Furthermore it builds on a broad global explorative base of 72 practical examples and presents in-depth case studies for each type. The results reveal a number of global tendencies that allow recommendations to be made for different locations, contexts and stakeholders. They also encourage the expansion of this research field to respond to the pressing needs of policy and practice.

The Chair Eco-design of buildings and infrastructure, a partnership between three engineering colleges (MINES ParisTech, Ecole des Ponts ParisTech and AgroParisTech) and the VINCI group, aims to create measurement and simulation tools which integrate all the dimensions of eco-design (greenhouse gas emissions, impact on biodiversity and resource levies, etc.) to become real decision-making tools, based on a scientific approach, for all actors in the city (designers, builders and users). This book reviews the second five-year sequence of the Chair, first presenting methodological advances in eco-design: life cycle assessment and quantification of uncertainties; local environmental impacts of transport and biodiversity. The interdisciplinary partnership, also associating the human sciences, shows its interest in taking into account the human factor in the modelling of urban systems. This modelling is based on several numerical simulation tools, presented in the third part. This theoretical set results in more substantial proposals for the renewal of techniques and systems, in terms of energy management strategies in buildings, urban agriculture, participatory data collection and digital transformation in transport. This book is intended for urban planners, local authorities, building owners, architects, design offices, companies, building managers, teacher-researchers and anyone interested in the environmental quality of our living spaces.

This book offers an insight into how to create aesthetically pleasing, environmentally integrated, multi-functional developments in the ocean or on the coastline. Eco-design of Marine Infrastructures provides practical and realistic solutions for delivering projects that strive to minimize negative environmental impacts. Using case studies and examples, this book presents a toolkit of options, allowing decision makers and planners to see what is possible and to make informed choices about the risks and benefits of eco-design. It is intended for researchers, engineers, students and decision makers, or anyone who is curious to see how nature can be integrated into development.