Is a Madagascan mine the first to offset

its destruction of rainforest?

Pristine rainforest – home to the Indri, the largest living lemur – was destroyed to make way for the mine. Now
scientists believe enough forest is being saved to offset this initial clearance. Photograph: Nick Garbutt/PA

Researchers say the island’s biggest mine is on track to achieve no net loss of
forest but that ‘there remain important caveats’
Wed 9 Mar 2022
The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/09/ambatovy-the-madagascan-mine-that-
might-prove-carbon-offsetting-works-aoe

Ambatovy mine on the east coast of Madagascar is an environmental conundrum fit for the 21st
century. Beginning operations in 2012, the multibillion-dollar open-pit nickel and cobalt mine is the
largest investment in the history of the country, one of the poorest on Earth. About 9,000 Malagasies
are employed by the project, owned by the Japanese company Sumitomo Corporation and Korean
firm Komir, which mines minerals destined for the world’s electric car batteries. To construct the
mine and the 140-mile (220km) slurry pipeline to port on the Indian ocean, 2,000 hectares (5,000
acres) of pristine rainforest was cleared, destroying vital habitat of the endangered indri, the largest
living lemur, and thousands of other species.

Alongside the land clearing in a country that has lost nearly a quarter of its tree cover since 2000, the
mine has been blamed for air and water pollution, as well as health problems in the local population.
The smell of ammonia in residential areas and the pollution of drinking water were revealed in a 2017
investigation.

But now the project is set to gain another controversial accolade: the first mine to successfully offset
the destruction it caused to a forest, according to an independent scientific study.
In a wild west of environmental claims, research published in Nature Sustainability, led by scientists
at Bangor University, is likely to be contentious.

The theory behind offsetting is that good can cancel out bad. In carbon offsetting, polluters can pay to
neutralise emissions from flying or driving by paying for equivalent emission reductions elsewhere.
With biodiversity offsetting, the destruction of an ecosystem can be counteracted by protecting
another threatened area.

Guardian writer George Monbiot has compared offsetting to the sale of indulgences by the Catholic
church in the 16th century, when sinners could, in effect, pay to cancel out their bad deeds.

Evidence that most offsets do what they claim to do is scarce. “Over 12,000 biodiversity offsets exist
worldwide, yet evaluations of their effectiveness are rare and most do not use robust methods,”
according to the study of Ambatovy’s offsets.
About 2,000 hectares of rainforest was cleared to build Ambatovy mine. Photograph: Jonathan Watts/The
Guardian

The researchers say Ambatovy is on track to protect an area of rainforest equivalent to the amount it
destroyed in other parts of the island.

Scientists used statistical analysis to compare the four offsetting schemes established by the mine with
similar areas of threatened forest not under protection. The researchers say 1,644 hectares was
protected between 2009 and January 2020 by the mine’s conservation schemes, and that if continued
at the same rate, 2,174 hectares of rainforest loss would have been avoided by the end of 2021, fully
offsetting the destruction at the mine site.

“This is a really encouraging result. It suggests that the really large contributions the mine makes to
the Malagasy economy can be achieved while minimising tradeoffs with the unique forest habitat,”
says lead author Katie Devenish.

How the mine is offsetting its forest destruction

But the researchers add that “there remain important caveats”. First, the result shows how difficult
and expensive biodiversity offsetting is, according to the scientists. Although no official figures were
published, it is understood the offsets were backed by heavy investment from the mine, to protect an
area of rainforest smaller than most London boroughs.

“Ambatovy is interesting to study, in part because it is a flagship project. It’s not in any way
representative of most offsets. This isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card for mines and dams in important
biodiversity areas. Offsetting is really hard. The company had to work really, really hard to achieve
those biodiversity gains,” says Julia Jones, a conservation professor at Bangor University, and study
co-author.

This isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card for mines and dams in important biodiversity
areas. Offsetting is really hard
Prof Julia Jones, study co-author
“This study should encourage companies to invest more in avoidance and minimisation because if
they’re genuinely going to have to offset unavoidable impacts, it’s going to be really hard and
expensive,” Jones says.

Second, the burden of offsetting falls on vulnerable people who depend on the forest for their
livelihoods – forcing them to change their behaviour – rather than the mine, say researchers. The
reductions in the Ambatovy offsets were gained by slowing land clearing by subsistence farmers in
other areas.

“The poorest people most dependent on the forests are the ones that will bear the cost of achieving no
net loss outcomes because they can no longer exploit the forest in the way that they traditionally did,”
says Martine Maron, a professor at the University of Queensland and author of a paper on the many
meanings of no net loss in 2018, who was not involved in the study.

Scientists have warned that much of the burden of offsetting falls on vulnerable people who are dependent on
the forest. Photograph: Vincent Muracciole

“It’s an issue that has to be solved because we can’t be beholden to tradeoffs between people and
nature. We’ve got to find solutions that work for both,” she says.

Dr Sarobidy Rakotonarivo, an environmental socioeconomist and fellow at the

Forest4Climate&People project at Bangor University, has studied the impact of conservation policies
on people in eastern Madagascar. She says there has been too little investment in livelihoods and food
security.

“All too often, I think there is this lack of understanding about how much is needed to support people
reliant on subsistence agriculture,” she says.

Many agree there is the need for more research on offsetting schemes. While they underpin the
environmental commitments of some of the biggest companies on Earth, all too often it is unclear
whether the projects are having any impact on the environment.

Sophus zu Ermgassen, an ecological economist at the University of Kent, who was not involved in the
latest research, says: “The paper is awesome. It is at the very cutting edge methodologically as it’s
really hard to know if nature conservation works.
“Offsetting can be done but it cannot be overstated how unique this case is and how much resource
needs to go into making it work – levels of resourcing that nearly all state or national biodiversity
offsetting policies fail to provide,” he says.

Ambatovy has welcomed the report and told the Guardian: “Ambatovy is committed to acting in a
responsible manner and to working with integrity, transparency, respect and the highest ethical
standards.”

In response to the 2017 allegations, it said pollution and water quality are monitored in line with
international standards and a grievance mechanism is open to those affected.