Nature Positive Role of the Ports Sector

Companies should follow the mitigation hierarchy at the site level, in a landscape context, taking into consideration direct, indirect and cumulative impacts. They should first avoid impacts, then reduce impacts, restore, and finally compensate85 for unavoidable residual impacts.86,87,88,89,90 Mitigation efforts should align with an NNL or BNG goal for each project.91 Making the most of limited port space to maximize port value chain efficiency and minimize impacts on nature requires both businesses and government to actively contribute to a nature-positive transition through careful planning. The concepts of nature conservation and biodiversity protection should be integrated into all stages of the port life cycle, including planning, construction, upgrading and decommissioning. Ports should be planned in an integrated and coordinated way, with an aim to simultaneously meet business and operational needs and minimize impacts and dependencies on nature. The port sector is encouraged to minimize impacts and dependencies by striving to: Avoid operating within areas of high biodiversity value to minimize impacts on natural ecosystems. Ports and businesses across the entire value chain should avoid construction and operations within areas of high biodiversity value, such as Key Biodiversity Areas and Marine Protected Areas. Shipping channels need to be carefully planned to minimize impacts on local species’ habitats from frequent ship movement and maintenance dredging. Overland structures should also consider their impacts on bird migration. Plan and integrate port infrastructure and facilities sensitively to minimize land/water/sea use change. Port infrastructure and facilities occupy large areas of natural land, coastline, water and sea. When planning a new port, developers should consider, wherever possible, making use of existing developed space to avoid land-use change. During redevelopment, infrastructure and facilities should be integrated, and the planning should consider potential additional space for clean energy facilities, if applicable, such as solar panels, wind turbines and energy storage facilities. If, due to historical reasons, the existence of a traditional port continuously has an impact on the Indigenous Peoples and the local environment, consideration can also be given to returning the land and finding a new suitable location for the port. Further actions port developers can take to ensure nature-positive goals are considered in port planning: –The port area should be adapted to local coastal conditions to minimize the amount of land/water/sea use change. 3.1 Sensitively plan port area to minimize impacts on naturePriority action 1 The concepts of nature conservation and biodiversity protection should be integrated into all stages of the port life cycle, including planning, construction, upgrading and decommissioning. Nature Positive: Role of the Port Sector 28