Biodiversity offsetting can relocate nature away from people: An empirical case study in Western Australia

Regular contact with nature provides multiple health benefits for people, but biodiversity is declining fast in an urbanizing world. Biodiversity offsets are implemented to compensate the negative residual impacts of economic development projects on biodiversity, people who stand lose from their local environment rarely considered. Offsetting typically involves creating, restoring or protecting values at a specified site that can be located some distance away site. In this article, we explore whether any relocation occurring due and Western Australia (WA); jurisdiction one world's few spatially referenced comprehensive public offset registers. We analyzed data 158 within WA Environmental Offsets Register. compared location sites 50 km (the urban peri zone) 500 (~one day's drive) central business district (CBD) Perth associated sites. The process together considered contribute loss as tended further areas than were also significantly lower population density areas. However, increased publicly accessible land area by changing ownership creating amenity benefit improving land. Nevertheless, it unclear what extent balanced access nature. order maintain connectedness, ecosystem service delivery environmental justice cities, argue policies should require spatial proximity between impact