Looking beyond biodiversity conservation policies

Biodiversity loss cannot be stopped if biodiversity policies are implemented in isolation from other policies, such as those on the economy, urban and infrastructure development, and climate change. Biodiversity is not unique to pristine natural ecosystems; extensively used areas also harbour many species. In the Netherlands, the increasingly intensive use and high productivity of land is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss, as is overexploitation of marine and freshwater bodies. The assessment concludes that halting the loss implies finding room for landscape elements and wildlife habitats in agricultural and urban landscapes, as well as stopping overexploitation.

Options for making sector targets compatible with biodiversity goals

Integrating biodiversity policies into other sectors is one of the options for making the use of land and water compatible with biodiversity goals. Attention needs to be given to how policy tools of spatial planning and land-use planning could be employed to this end. Besides the traditional set-aside policy for protected areas, four strategies for biodiversity-friendly planning can be identified:

1) connecting biodiversity in ecological networks (Read more),

2) exploiting opportunities for combining biodiversity conservation with new urban developments (read more),

3) integrating biodiversity conservation into multifunctional rural development (read more), and

4) developing ‘new nature’.

The effective use of spatial planning to combat biodiversity loss depends on government policies.

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