What does the City of Bainbridge Island have in common with Ghana, Mexico, Qatar, South Africa, and Uganda?
Probably more than we might think, but one thing is for sure: all these places have been selected for pilot projects by the Business and Biodiversity Offset Program. The Business and Biodiversity Offset Program, which goes by the jazzy acronym BBOP (“bebop”), is an international partnership between companies, governments, conservation organizations, and scientists. BBOP seeks opportunities worldwide for businesses to voluntarily create biodiversity offsets that support conservation. And what is a biodiversity offset? Much like mitigation efforts, a biodiversity offset is a conservation action designed to compensate for the residual, unavoidable harm to biodiversity caused by development projects. The BBOP Secretariat is located in Washington, D.C., and is chaired by Forest Trends, an international non-profit organization that works to support innovative projects and companies that are developing new markets for ecosystem services. For the City of Bainbridge Island, participating as a B
