Swapping nature for nature

A chain of volcanoes border the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Green groups warn that no offsets can replace the World Heritage Site if plans for oil exploitation proceeds. - AFP

Conservationists are split over biodiversity offsetting, the promise to replace nature destroyed and lost in one place with nature somewhere else.

Conservationists around the world are split over whether to let developers destroy green space in return for paying cash to restore equivalent space elsewhere, a meeting at London Zoo last week found.