Mitigation Hierarchy Guide

CSBI’s guide on the mitigation hierarchy was developed in consultation with, and with input from, technical specialists in impact assessment, extractive industry experts and financial institutions, with feedback and input from the non-profit sector.

The Mitigation Hierarchy Guide:

• Clearly defines the four steps of the mitigation hierarchy — avoid, minimize, restore and offset—and their application with regard to managing biodiversity throughout the life cycle of an extractive project;
• Provides clear, systematic guidance for determining and demonstrating biodiversity loss or gain as a result of mitigation efforts, highlighting links to ecosystem services where available and appropriate;
• Offers practical measures for predicting and verifying biodiversity conservation outcomes over time; and offers insight into documenting and comparing costs and savings resulting from mitigation action or inaction.

The guide reviews the many options to mitigate impacts, and guides users through a flexible approach to applying the mitigation steps. The approach is adaptable according to site-specific environmental and operational circumstances, including different regulatory regimes.