RSB principle on Conservation

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Bioenergy > Sustainability standards > Initiatives > Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels > RSB Principles and Criteria (version 0)

(To comment on this principle, and its associated criteria and guidance, please use the Discussion Page.)

PRINCIPLE
7. Biofuel production shall avoid negative impacts on biodiversity, ecosystems, and areas of High Conservation Value.
Key guidance: HCV areas, native ecosystems, ecological corridors and public and private biological conservation areas can only be exploited as far as conservation values are left intact and can in no case be converted. Definitions of these terms and an appropriate cut-off date will be developed by the RSB.

CRITERIA

• 7.a High Conservation Value areas, native ecosystems, ecological corridors and other public and private biological conservation areas shall be identified and protected.

Guidance: The identification must be performed prior to any new project. Identification and mapping of HCV areas should be undertaken by governmental, inter-governmental, and conservation organizations, as part of larger participatory processes involving local communities and non-biofuel sectors. Where such mapping is occurring, the results shall be respected by producers. Where such maps do not exist, large-scale producers shall use existing recognized toolkits such as the HCV toolkit or the IBAT. Producers or cooperatives unable to perform an environmental impact assessment and/or a land management plan will need support. The use of native crops shall be preferred.
Indirect conversions and loss of high conservation values shall be assessed and minimised (the RSB will work on appropriate methodologies and models to assess indirect impacts).
Hunting, fishing, ensnaring, poisoning and exploitation of endangered and legally protected species are prohibited on the production site.

• 7.b Ecosystem functions and services shall be preserved.

Guidance: Ecosystem (ecological) functions are described in other systems, for instance FSC criterion 6.3. Ecosystem services are provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services obtained by people from ecosystems, as described in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Specific ecosystem functions and services relevant to an area of production shall be locally defined.

• 7.c Buffer zones shall be protected or created.

Guidance: Biofuel production must not damage any existing Buffer Zone (BZ). BZ must be set between production site and HCV areas/native ecosystems/ecological corridors/other public or private biological conservation areas. The surrounding zones, including riparian areas and slopes must be kept in their original state or shall be restored. Where necessary, Buffer Zones must be created on the production site (e.g. if a river or another source of water is located inside the production site). Clusters of individually owned small agricultural parcels can be considered a single production site with Buffer Zones at its edges only.

• 7.d Ecological corridors shall be protected or restored.

Guidance: The existing ecological corridors on the biofuel production site and around must be identified, as part of the ESIA (see Criterion 2a). Biofuel production must not disrupt existing ecological corridors. Whenever necessary, ecological corridors that were previously degraded shall be restored on the production site, habitat connectivity and wildlife movement enhanced. Governmental, inter-governmental, and conservation organizations shall provide support through a management plan of ecological corridors at a national or regional scale.

USEFUL LINKS

• The HCV Resource Network
• Proforest HCVF toolkit
• Good practice guidelines for High Conservation Value assessments