Agent’s role in nature values trading based on skills

The project of the Ilmari Räsänen Foundation produces offset areas that are ready to be brought to the nature values market by means of funding from the Kone Foundation.

“In the first place, the main target is to create a nature values market, that is, to support the development of the ecological compensation system, which still suffers from the chicken and egg paradox. What we are trying to address is the shortage on the supply side,” Risto Sulkava says.

Sulkava works for two organisations related to this topic: as the leader of the ecological compensation project of the Ilmari Räsänen Foundation and expert and consultant in the commercial Hiilipörssi Oy.

350 hectares of offset areas being prepared 

In the project of the Ilmari Räsänen Foundation, preparations are under way concerning about 350 hectares of offset sites located in different parts of Finland from South Häme all the way to Lapland.

“Most of the sites represent different types of forest from herb-rich forests to nutrient-poor heathland forests and boulder fields. Different kinds of mires are also included, as well as some brooks or rivulets and shores and bedrock,” Sulkava says. 

According to Sulkava, delays have been caused especially by the portal of the regional state authority that is not yet ready. Further development is also needed regarding the different phases of the calculations and appraisals.
“In practice restoration work has not yet been started anywhere, but the aim is to have marketable nature value hectares for sale by the autumn,” Sulkava says.

Comprehensive benefit to nature

The main principle guiding the operations is to achieve a comprehensive benefit to nature. Another key driver is the target to improve skills related to producing nature values. In restoration projects actions to fight against biodiversity loss and climate change are seamlessly combined with each other.

“We wish to bring this more broadly to the awareness of the private sector. Both people and companies have to contribute to the efforts to save the planet - our lives depend on this. There are rays of hope to be seen.”

Greenwashing banned 

The key elements of the agent’s role are honesty and skills. Sulkava hopes that in ecological compensation we can avoid what happened with climate compensation, or carbon offsetting, where the market was not regulated and cheaters got involved.

Greenwashing and downright lying eroded the credibility of climate compensation and the market that had got off to a good start collapsed. Now we have the chance to do better as the regulation is in place. The role of supervisors is very important to make sure that fraud will not spoil the progress achieved.     

“The state should also start offsetting the harm it causes by its own operations and obligate at least certain sectors to use ecological compensation.”

Halting biodiversity loss requires commitment from society as a whole. In our series of articles, we present the nature values market and cases where ecological compensation has been used from the perspective of different stakeholders. Through ecological compensation, adverse impacts on biodiversity caused by human action in a certain area are offset by enhancing biodiversity in another area. Nature values market is a new and evolving means for channelling private funding to the work for biodiversity.

Text: Sirpa Mustonen
Photo: Risto Sulkava