Put Nature First With The Mitigation Hierarchy
For the leaders responsible for sustainability and environmental impact within their organisations, it’s vital to have an understanding of how […]
For the leaders responsible for sustainability and environmental impact within their organisations, it’s vital to have an understanding of how the Mitigation Hierarchy can be a powerful tool in your biodiversity monitoring, eDNA analysis and management efforts. This hierarchy offers a framework that can genuinely make a difference in how your business interacts with the natural world.
What is the Mitigation Hierarchy?
More than just a step-by-step process, the Mitigation Hierarchy offers a way of thinking about and addressing environmental impact that puts the most effective actions first. The hierarchy starts with Avoidance, moves to Minimisation, on to Restoration, and finally, as a last resort, Offsetting.
Avoidance
Think of this as the “do no harm” stage. Before you break ground on a new project or expand operations, the goal is to steer clear of areas where your activities could cause significant harm to biodiversity. This might mean rerouting a project or changing your methods entirely. It’s proactive, not reactive, and the best way to ensure minimal impact to the environment.
Minimization
If some impact is unavoidable, the next best thing is to minimise it. This could involve tweaking your operations, such as timing construction to avoid disrupting local wildlife during critical periods like mating seasons, or using methods that reduce environmental disturbance.
Restoration
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, harm occurs. In these cases, you should focus on restoring the environment to its original state. This involves more than just planting a few trees and moving on to the next project, it’s about genuinely rehabilitating ecosystems and ensuring they can thrive again.
Offsetting
If all else fails, offsetting allows you to compensate for your impacts by supporting conservation efforts elsewhere. This could mean creating or protecting habitats that are ecologically similar to the ones affected by your operations. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than leaving the damage unaddressed.
Why Should You Care?
The Mitigation Hierarchy isn’t just a theoretical framework. It’s practical, actionable, and essential for modern businesses.
Why Should You Care?
The Mitigation Hierarchy isn’t just a theoretical framework. It’s practical, actionable, and essential for modern businesses.
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