World-Wide: Is speciesbanking.com another wrong way REDD?

Ecosystem Marketplace, a site that provides information on markets and payment schemes for ecosystem services, has launched what it is calling the “first information clearinghouse” for the species credit trading industry. Speciesbanking.com will provide a marketplace for the emerging conservation banking market. It will initially focus on U.S. deals but hopes to eventually expand into other countries as markets develop. “SpeciesBanking.com will serve as a platform for conservation bank owners to publicize credit availability, credit buyers to find solutions to their mitigation needs, and prospective bank developers to research current market conditions,” said Ecosystem Marketplace in a statement. “It will also allow agency staff to learn about activities outside their jurisdictions, and academics, investors, and others to monitor and analyze industry trends.”  “The ultimate goal of speciesbanking.com is to facilitate species credit trading as an effective tool for the conservation of threatened and endangered species and their habitat.” Conservation banks are a market response to regulations limiting development due to environmental concerns. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service explains on its web site: Conservation banks are permanently protected privately or publicly owned lands that are managed for endangered, threatened, and other at-risk species. A conservation bank is like a biological bank account. Instead of money, the bank owner has habitat or species credits to sell. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) approves habitat or species credits based on the natural resource values on the bank lands. In exchange for permanently protecting the bank lands and managing them for listed and other at-risk species, conservation bank owners may sell credits to developers or others who need to compensate for the environmental impacts of their projects. http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1209-speciesbanking.html

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