In September, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) held an internal workshop and training session focused on biodiversity offset best practices and the potential for strategic offset banking.

Susie Brownlie, a global thought leader in biodiversity offsets and impact assessment for No Net Loss, facilitated the two-day session aimed at strengthening internal capacity and deepening alignment by unpacking the principles, challenges, and emerging opportunities of this important – yet often controversial – conservation approach.

Offsetting is the last resort in the mitigation hierarchy and is designed to compensate for significant, unavoidable residual impacts on biodiversity, including after every possible effort has been made by the developer to avoid, minimise and rehabilitate harm to biodiversity. It must not be used as a bargaining chip or license to justify destructive projects.

As with any tool, the design and application of offsets can either add genuine value to conservation or, if poorly managed, undermine the very systems they are meant to protect. Offsets, therefore, need to be carefully designed to meet the 10 core principles of best practice according to the Business and Biodiversity Offsets Programme. This includes like-for-like or better, additionality, no net loss (or net gain), long-term outcomes, and stakeholder participation.

The EWT is increasingly being approached to design and implement biodiversity offsets for developers. We are also exploring the potential of strategic offset banking – a proactive approach where biodiversity credits are generated in advance through habitat protection and/or restoration. These credits can then be sold to developers needing to offset their impacts in like-for-like areas. With potential projects and partnerships in the pipeline, this workshop was timeous in equipping relevant pack members with the necessary knowledge to design and implement offsets and offset banks according to best practice.

The workshop delved into the practicalities of implementing offsets, such as site selection, stakeholder engagement, financing mechanisms, and long-term management. It highlighted the risks of vague environmental authorisation conditions, insufficient budgets, and reputational damage if offsets fail to deliver meaningful conservation outcomes. It also underlined the benefits: that such investments can strengthen landscape resilience and water security against climate change; build trust with communities and regulators; demonstrate genuine corporate responsibility to shareholders and society; and leave a legacy of ecological and social benefits that extend beyond the life of a development project.

Key takeaways over the two days included the need for capacity building on the mitigation hierarchy and biodiversity offsets for project developers, financial institutions and provincial authorities to support effective design and implementation. Further, whilst conservation banking offers potential for more strategic, aggregated conservation outcomes, the location and potential demand need to be carefully considered. This is where the EWT’s unique advantage in South African landscape planning and related spatial datasets is of great value.

The workshop reinforced the importance of a unified, informed approach to biodiversity offsets across the EWT: when guided by science, aligned with conservation priorities and implemented with rigour, they can secure ecologically critical habitats, mobilise private capital for conservation, and help achieve global biodiversity goals, such as protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030.

Whether we are acting as an implementing partner, advising on offset design, or driving development of offset banks, the EWT’s credibility and impact depend on applying best practices and engaging with stakeholders transparently and ethically. The session laid the groundwork for future collaboration, advocacy, and innovation in this critical area of conservation, where we move beyond damage compensation to leaving our landscapes richer, more resilient and better prepared for the challenges of the future.