Environmental Case Study

Biodiversity-Threat or Opportunity?

Sachin Kapila

Biological diversity (biodiversity) embraces the variety of all life on earth. It includes the
millions of species of plants, animals (people too), and fungi, the genes that every individual
inherits from its parents, as well as those individuals that form populations, populations that
form species, and the interaction of those species to form communities. Biodiversity is the
underpinning of human society. It provides for the most fundamental of our needs--from the
water we drink and the food we eat, to the medicines we use to heal ourselves and the shelter we need to
protect us from the elements.

We are today, however, faced with a real threat to biodiversity. Most basic is humanity’s impact upon the
environment--a growing human population, desertification and deforestation increasing at an alarming
rate, the average temperature on the Earth’s surface is getting hotter, and there is now increasing
evidence that humans are contributing to measurable changes in the global climate. All of these activities
are having a dramatic effect on the Earth’s biodiversity. Some scientists claim that the current rate of loss
is higher than ever before.

Slowing biodiversity losses, though, requires sound scientific information. Good planning can help us
understand how species interact in any given ecosystem, how that ecosystem functions, and prepares us
to make better decisions for reducing threats to biodiversity. Good science can also point us to those
areas that are in a critical state, those most threatened, and to those areas with high biodiversity. That is
exactly what the Royal Dutch/Shell Group is aiming to do. The case for action derives from the close links
of biodiversity both to our existing commitments on sustainable development and climate change, as well
as to our desire to be a responsible global citizen. In more practical terms, failure to manage such issues
can lead to project delay and even denial of access to prospective areas.

We cite here one case study of how a global corporate player has begun to address biodiversity in a more
systematic manner. Shell has recently developed a biodiversity policy and action-plan, the first for an oil
and gas company worldwide. The company sought the views of some of the world’s leading conservation
organizations, and in June 2000, a five-year partnership was established with the Smithsonian Institution
(SI).

Shell and SI had worked together before on the Camisea project in the Amazonian jungle of Peru. The
institution’s Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Programme (SI/MAB) took primary responsibility
for organizing and carrying out scientific biodiversity studies. The team of national and international
experts gathered baseline information to determine what types of changes the project would bring about
in the area’s natural systems, and then provided Shell staff with the information needed to support
appropriate decisions concerning its operations--such as siting the gas processing plant, determining the
proper depth to bury gas pipelines, use of native species in revegetating the pipeline corridor, and what
impacts helicopters and roads might have on biodiversity.

The new partnership has taken Shell and SI/MAB to Gabon. Gabon is one of the last remaining countries
with high potential for the conservation of biodiversity. This is in part due to the relatively low population
density (estimated at 1.2 million in 1990), an estimated 50 percent of whom are located in the three major
cities of Libreville, Port-Gentil, and Franceville. In rural areas the density does not exceed 2 per km2, with
vast areas in the interior being uninhabited. Over 85 percent of the country remains forested, with the
remainder being savanna. The forests are floristically diverse. Likewise, fauna is rich, with over 130
mammal species, at least 20 of which are monkeys, over 600 species of birds, more than 70 species of
reptiles, and 100 species of amphibians.

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Environmental Case Study
Biodiversity-Threat or Opportunity?

The project aims to increase biodiversity knowledge of the tropical Gabonese forest by first collecting
baseline data on what occurs and where. This is achieved through the use of biodiversity inventories--
providing lists of species for a particular area--or by biodiversity assessments--quantitative species lists
for particular areas. Once we know what occurs in an area, we can then study ecosystem function in
order to understand how the different components interact. This provides us with solid scientific
information that can be used for implementing management decisions that will help to conserve or reduce
the risk to biodiversity. Monitoring programs can then be put into place that will evaluate how effectively
management is achieving its desired goals. When the process becomes cyclical and the monitoring
results are fed back into management decisions, we can say that we are conserving biodiversity through
"adaptive management."

The project will also seek to build strong links with regional stakeholders (including local communities,
national and international nongovernmental organizations, governments, Shell managers, operators, and
contractors) to use the gathered biological information for conservation, to train local scientists in the use
of established SI/MAB protocols for assessments and monitoring, to disseminate the scientific results to
all stakeholders in appropriate formats, and to apply the framework developed to establish guidelines and
other materials as appropriate for development projects around the world.

Other partnership opportunities will be sought as the project develops and new areas are explored, such
as environmental education or sustainable community programs designed around biodiversity issues--for
example, eco-tourism. It is hoped that this project will be a catalyst for levering other sources of income
and partnership interest in meeting the project’s overall objectives.

Core to the project’s success is the building of local capacity with regards to biodiversity. It is hoped that
this project will help local decision makers and link to Gabon’s national biodiversity strategy. Secondly,
the knowledge gained may be used to influence and develop a more responsible corporate culture with
regards to the country’s rich biodiversity. The project will also benefit Shell by providing guidance on how
to operate in future projects while minimizing operational footprints and using best technology to improve
project designs.

Only through our furthered understanding of the importance of biodiversity--where it exists, why it matters,
and how it works--will we be able to make reasoned and informed judgments about how best to conserve
it, where to prospect, and where to leave alone. However, in order to provide for a sustainable future, we
must also provide sustained economic growth. In the near future, this will continue to be dependent on
the exploration and extraction of natural resources for energy. It is our belief that the two can co-exist.

Sachin Kapila is an issues analyst with Shell International Limited in London, England.

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