Conservation Biology, 25: 1121–1123. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2011.01769.x

Infrastructure is an important catalyst for economic growth in developing countries. According to estimates by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, developing countries may have to invest more than US$700 billion a year in infrastructure in the coming decade—increasing to US$1 trillion a year by 2030—to sustain rapid economic growth rates (World Bank 2007). The need for infrastructure expansion is becoming even more pressing due to the ongoing massive rural-to-urban shift of populations driven by this growth. For example, East Asian cities as a whole are projected to absorb two million new dwellers every month and triple the extent of their urban areas by 2030 (Gill et al. 2007).
Infrastructure development, however, invariably results in loss of biological diversity due to loss and fragmentation of species’ habitats, increased accessibility of fauna to poachers, and changes in land use and land cover (Davenport & Davenport 2006; Peres 2010). Biodiversity offsets offer options for addressing effects of infrastructure projects on biological diversity and for leveraging additional funding for conservation.

Biodiversity Offsets and Infrastructur (full article)