Marine Biodiversity Offseting: Identifying Opportunities to Deliver Better Outcomes for Species and Ecosystems

Biodiversity offsets are increasingly being used as a mechanism to mitigate impacts from economic expansion and development on species and ecosystems. Current offset research and policy are primarily focused on terrestrial ecosystems while marine offset development has lagged behind, despite a global increase in marine development and exploitation. Addressing this gap is crucial to providing better outcomes for marine species. 

The aim of this project is to assess current marine offset strategies, develop novel and innovate marine offset actions that will best benefit people and biodiversity and discuss the implications of these offsets on marine conservation planning and marine ecosystem based management.

Funding: IPRS Scholarship, UQ Centennial Scholarship

Advisors: Assoc Prof Martine Maron, Assoc Prof James Watson