Compensazione della biodiversità per la protezione dell'ambiente: il caso del mitigation banking negli Stati Uniti

The loss of biodiversity is nowadays one of the major environmental problems, and it is becoming more and more urgent as global population and global consumption increase. The destruction of ecosystems and habitats entails the destruction of the so-called ecosystem services which are provided by nature. Biodiversity offsets appear as potential policies to avoid the loss of biodiversity without, however, hindering further development. With their implementation, compensation for negative impacts on biodiversity is required, so to avoid an overall loss of biodiversity. Wetland mitigation banking, implemented in the United States, is one example of a biodiversity offset, and works accordingly to market principles. Nevertheless, if nature is traded as any other good, different complexities arise both from an environmental and a regulatory point of view.