Enhancing ecological connectivity through biodiversity offsets to mitigate impacts on habitats of large mammals in tropical forest environments

ABSTRACT

Habitat loss and fragmentation are ecological impacts of development projects known to have severe effects on mammals’ populations. Here, we study the role of connectivity assessment in Environmental Impact Assessment, focusing on its contribution to determining appropriate mitigation, in particular, biodiversity offsetting. For that purpose, we analysed the dispersal of large mammals in a region potentially influenced by a mine located in the Atlantic rainforest in Brazil and anticipate the long-term outcomes of restoration offsets by modelling a 30-year post-offset scenario. Results show that: (i) offsets enhance ecological connectivity and are used as an alternative habitat for the animals dispersed due to habitat loss and fragmentation; (ii) the location of restoration areas should be carefully planned to maximize their contribution to increase ecological connectivity and enhance habitat quality. The reviewed case suggests that best practices to incorporate connectivity analysis in environmental impact assessment include: (i) monitoring biodiversity to quantify losses and gains; (ii) modelling offset areas alternatives for both protection and restoration; and (iii) conducting rigorous analysis of project alternatives, aiming at impact avoidance.

KEYWORDS:

• Brazil
• defaunation
• ecological impact assessment
• habitat fragmentation
• mining
• no net loss

Acknowledgements

The first and fourth authors benefited from grant no 1686, provided by the Foundation for the Technological Development of Engineering - Brazil and funded by Anglo American Ferrous Brazil. The authors are grateful to Anglo American for providing timely information.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14615517.2022.2090086

Notes

1. A modelling platform developed by the Remote Sensing Center of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Through a variety of operators, called ‘functors’, which perform mathematical, logical, and spatial analysis operations, the user can develop spatially explicit models, in addition to using algorithms for calibration and validation of simulation.

2. A network of NGOs, universities and companies launched the online platform MapBiomas (mapbiomas.org), which aims to produce annual maps of land cover and use in Brazil, from 1985 so far.

3. ‘Darwin Core is a standard maintained by the Darwin Core Maintenance Interest Group. It includes a glossary of terms (in other contexts these might be called properties, elements, fields, columns, attributes, or concepts) intended to facilitate the sharing of information about biological diversity by providing identifiers, labels, and definitions’. Source: https://dwc.tdwg.org/

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Foundation for the Technological Development of Engineering - Brazil and funded by Anglo American Brazil [grant no 1686].