FAQ - Habitat Banks

Habitat Banks are areas where environmental investments are consolidated, resulting from mandatory compensations and/or voluntary contributions to biodiversity. Within Habitat Banks, actions aimed at the preservation, improvement, or restoration of ecosystems are carried out to offset negative impacts on biodiversity and/or to develop nature-positive strategies. Habitat Banks generate quantifiable biodiversity gains, which companies use to compensate for the environmental damages they cause. This mechanism operates on a payment-for-results model, enabling enhancements in productivity, efficiency, and quality of environmental compensations. To ensure their effectiveness, Habitat Banks are backed by financial, technical, and legal guarantees—factors often overlooked in environmental investment schemes. As outlined in the Protocol for Issuing Voluntary Biodiversity Credits, Habitat Banks qualify for credit issuance, with the aim of generating lasting positive impacts on biodiversity. We are implementing this funding mechanism in some Habitat Banks, which complements both mandatory compensations and investments.

By December 2022, the Colombian Ministry of Environment and Sustainability has registered 11 Habitat Banks across the country, with 8 registered by Terrasos and 1 currently in the registration process. Our Banks are situated in the regions of Meta, Casanare, Antioquia, Cesar, and Santander, and you can find their locations in our Geo-Viewer. Terrasos' Habitat Banks are strategically designed to meet the compensation requirements of numerous projects. To determine whether our Habitat Banks fulfill the technical, legal, and financial criteria for directing your compensations, please contact us through our website. This will allow us to understand the obligations arising from your project and explore the opportunities and solutions we have within our portfolio.

Terrasos has been developing Tebu (Terrasos Biodiversity Units - biodiversity credits developed by Terrasos) as an alternative for both individuals and companies to make voluntary contributions to exceptional conservation projects like Habitat Banks. To ensure the quality of the credits, the Protocol for the Issuance of Voluntary Biodiversity Credits has been established, a document that provides criteria for the design, structuring, and operation of projects, as well as the value chain that must exist for their commercialization. This ensures compliance with principles such as traceability, permanence, rigor, transparency, complementarity, applicability, and additionality. By purchasing credits, you make a positive and lasting contribution to the conservation of at least 10 m² of a threatened ecosystem for a minimum of 20 years. The pilot for this funding mechanism is being developed at the Habitat Bank - Cloud Forest El Globo, located in Támesis, Antioquia, and you can currently buy Tebu through ClimateTrade. Soon, you will also be able to make your contributions to this and the Aguadulce Habitat Bank in Cundinamarca directly from our website.