For those who have not yet been introduced to the Ecosystem Marketplace, we at Restoration Systems highly recommend subscribing to their publication called Mitigation Mail.
The staff at Ecosystem Marketplace does a wonderful job of keeping those in the industry abreast of vital issues taking place. The current installment raises a very valid issue within environmental mitigation; the importance of criticism and mistakes. It could be said that a fair amount of ground has yet to be covered by way of bringing a sense of understanding to the business of environmental restoration as a whole, but we are optimistic thanks to recent advances in legislation. Although I myself am somewhat limited in my knowledge of the industry, having only two years under my belt with Restoration Systems, I would like to attempt to briefly expound on my thoughts on this issue.
In recent weeks, many stories have been brought into public view regarding the pitfalls of mitigation banking, most notably the articles cirulating through the St. Petersburg Times in Florida, referring to Ecobank and the “Bad Apple of Mitigation Banking.” Although not the most ideal sort of attention, criticism of the industry focuses first on the negative, but allows light to branch out and shed on the progress of environmental restoration and the overall benefits of the work that we do. It is said in Public Relations that no press is bad press. We can only hope that by magnifying the negative, some light will also veer towards the postive aspects, and that by sharing the spotlight, these mistakes will help industry leaders push forward and grow stronger in the face of adversity in the coming year. We at Restoration Systems wish you a happy, healthy New Year. We greatly look forward to growing our blog in 2007 and continuing to keep you posted on all of the feats of environmental restoration in the coming year. We still have many great stories to tell!
Stay tuned for more in 2007, as Ricardo Bayon of Ecosystem Marketplace teams up with our own George Howard as a guest on “The McGeorge Group” panel at the 10th Annual National Mitigation Banking Conference in St. Louis, MO.
A message from the staff of Ecosystem Marketplace…
Mitigation banking: from Sydney to Solano
During these final weeks of 2006 the Ecosystem Marketplace has dug up a number of interesting stories. We’ve seen mitigation banking get a strong legislative foothold in Australia while more decentralized progress is made in the Western U.S. In Renton, WA a DOT/city wetland bank is under development; Colton County is close to a conservation/development accord regarding the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly; and mitigation banking in Solano County continues to be warmly embraced by local officials. In national news, an ESA tax-incentive proposal that failed last year shows signs of a friendly welcome this year, although perhaps without the conservation banking component. And finally, while the New South Wales Biodiversity Banking bill had little trouble passing into law it is generating a good deal of criticism, but that is not all bad in our view.
Indeed, it is worth remembering how important criticism can be to the maturation of the mitigation banking market. If banks do not prove themselves ecologically and economically sound over the long-term, they pose a real and present danger to the success of the mitigation banking industry. Where abuses of this system exist, critics are never far behind, and that, we think, is a good thing. To wit, a two-part series in a Florida past week shone a bright light on some of the problems associated with mitigation banking in the state. We report on these and other stories below in the hopes that this industry continues to build on its successes and learn from its mistakes.
