Background information and definitions
Development activity may be accompanied by a biodiversity ‘offsetting’ strategy that aims to compensate for the loss of existing habitat and associated species by protecting other sites or creating new sites of equal value to the lost habitat (e.g. Bull et al. 2014, Ives & Bekessy 2015). Offsetting may be ‘in-kind’, whereby new habitat is similar to that lost (for example creating ponds to replace ponds lost elsewhere), or ‘out-of-kind', whereby the new habitat is different (for example creating rock outcrops to replace lost grasslands elsewhere). Existing green spaces such as golf courses — known to support substantial wildlife numbers, especially urban-adapted species (Hodgkison et al. 2007) — have been proposed as potential sites for biodiversity offsets (Burgin & Wotherspoon 2009). Studies describing habitat restoration that is not compensatory for urban development or is carried out retrospectively rather than planned alongside the development, are summarized under Habitat restoration and creation.
Bull J.W., Gordon A., Law E.A., Suttle K.B. & Milner‐Gulland E.J. (2014) Importance of baseline specification in evaluating conservation interventions and achieving no net loss of biodiversity. Conservation Biology, 28, 799–809.
Burgin S. & Wotherspoon D. (2009) The potential for golf courses to support restoration of biodiversity for BioBanking offsets. Urban Ecosystems, 12, 145–155.
Hodgkison S.C., Hero J.-M. & Warnken J. (2007) The conservation value of suburban golf courses in a rapidly urbanising region of Australia. Landscape and Urban Planning, 79, 323–337.
Ives C.D. & Bekessy S.A. (2015) The ethics of offsetting nature. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 13, 568–573.
Maron M., Hobbs R.J., Moilanen A., Matthews J.W., Christie K., Gardner T.A., Keith D.A., Lindenmayer D.B. & McAlpine C.A. (2012) Faustian bargains? Restoration realities in the context of biodiversity offset policies. Biological Conservation, 155, 141–148.
Suding K.N. (2011) Toward an era of restoration in ecology: successes, failures, and opportunities ahead. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 42, 465–487.