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How Does Business Impact on Biodiversity?


All companies can have an impact on biodiversity in the course of their business - because they use natural resources, produce or consume products, own and manage areas of land, or finance other activities which have direct and indirect impacts.

Biodiversity is recognised as being key in ensuring a stable environment for businesses to operate in.


Activities detrimental to biodiversity include:

  • using products from species which are over-harvested;
  • planting or accidentally introducing exotic, non-native species on land-holdings, displacing native species;
  • over-use of water, which deprives local ecosystems;
  • building, development or sudden changes in land-use which destroy biodiversity-rich habitats or reduce the variety of local species.

Activities which can have a positive impact on biodiversity include:

  • management of landholdings in a way which is sensitive to biodiversity;
  • sourcing supplies from sustainable sources;
  • release of employees to work on local biodiversity conservation projects;
  • influencing stakeholders, such as suppliers, customers or employees, to consider biodiversity;
  • putting financial support into biodiversity conservation projects.

Policy-level recognition of a company's responsibility to biodiversity demonstrates, both to people outside and to employees, that the company is taking biodiversity seriously. It sets the scene for the company to deal with biodiversity strategically, across its whole operation, by integrating biodiversity issues into existing environmental management or sustainability strategies. Biodiversity is critical for most businesses - either because their processes require biological materials or because a healthy and stable environment is an integral part of the operation.

Photo Credit: Peter Wakely/ English Nature

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