Biodiversity valuations FAQ’s
Putting a price on Nature
Estonia-based Endangered Wildlife OÜ has been an innovator in biodiversity valuations. Their platform is designed to support governments, corporations, and investors in assessing the monetary value of natural assets. As part of a growing trend in environmental finance, this European fintech initiative introduces a data-driven approach to valuing biodiversity.
“We’ve created a tool that puts biodiversity on the balance sheet,” says CEO Shana Vida Gavron. “It’s a way to see the invisible cost of extinction.”
Not only about carbon
While carbon credits and emissions targets dominate today’s environmental headlines, biodiversity loss has remained a vague and often invisible issue. However, this is changing as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and nature-related financial disclosures become global regulatory expectations.
Gavron says: “Biodiversity loss is harder to measure than carbon, but just as critical. Our platform gives decision-makers a way to quantify their impact – and their opportunity to act.”
Shark disappearance comes at a cost
As a demonstration, Endangered Wildlife OÜ assessed the value of the great white shark population in South Africa’s Western Cape, where sightings have plummeted in recent years. The study, commissioned by California NGO Shark Allies, found the sharks’ disappearance could cost the region more than R4.3 billion ($241-million) in lost ecological and economic value.
Key findings include:
• Tourism impact – shark diving alone was worth over R1 billion in 2019, supporting hundreds of jobs.
• Media appeal – great whites are international stars of Shark Week, documentaries, and marine campaigns, drawing global attention.
• Ecosystem ripple effects – without great whites, seal numbers have surged, putting new pressure on fish stocks and commercial fisheries.
Conservation that counts
The tool is being used by companies like Bwildi, a conservation-focused expedition company connecting donors to high-impact wildlife projects. This includes elephant collaring and rare species discovery. By partnering with Endangered Wildlife OÜ, they provide guests with personal biodiversity impact reports, quantifying the ecological value of their support.
For example, a single collared lion is estimated to generate approximately $1.4-million in ecosystem services. These wildlife tourism trips are considered recreational and long-term contributions to conservation efforts.
“When people can see the value of their contribution in black and white, it changes everything,” says Gavron.
Amid growing concerns about biodiversity loss, tools such as the Biodiversity Valuator help quantify both the costs of inaction and the potential benefits of investing in nature. In the context of accelerating species decline, nature is increasingly recognised as a critical asset in global sustainability efforts.
valuation FAQ’s
Why financially value biodiversity?
There are many uses and applications of understanding the financial value of biodiversity. These uses include (but are not limited to):
Advocating for a particular species
Biodiversity sustainability reporting
Calculating Biodiversity ROI
Understanding value at risk
Integrating biodiversity into decision-making processes
Acknowledging biodiversity as part of cost-benefit analyses
Recognizing the real value of biodiversity in terms of credits, offsets, donations, and other investments
Is it ethical to value biodiversity?
It is ethical to calculate the just value of biodiversity in the same way as people are valued for jobs, loans, insurance, etc. We believe that it is more ethical to calculate values for biodiversity than to apply random prices to biodiversity. Every life matters and cannot be merely offset.
Is the methodology accredited by an external body or framework?
There are no other companies that offer the financial valuation of biodiversity, and there is no existing body that can accredit it. The Biodiversity Valuation Methodology Whitepaper has been peer reviewed over 500 times by academics (economics, environment, and conservation), international organizations, financial institutions, actuaries, and other practitioners, and the results have been quoted in independent peer-reviewed academic articles. Each part of the method is a standardized academic, scientific, or industrially used method that can be justified. Additionally, the Taskforce for Nature-Based Disclosures (TNFD) has recognized it as being an acceptable application and accepted it for listing as a toolbox solution.
How does the methodology align to existing frameworks and standards?
TNFD & GBF
The Biodiversity Valuator is a listed TNFD tool and aligns with the LEAP Phases:
Locate the interface with nature
Evaluate priority dependencies and impacts
Assess material risks and opportunities
Prepare to respond and report
As well as to 7 out of 23 Targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, especially:
Target 14 – Integrate biodiversity in decision-making at every level
Target 15 – Businesses assess, disclose and reduce biodiversity-related risks and negative impacts
ALIGN
The Biodiversity Valuation corresponds to the Align recommendations on the Valuation of Impacts and Dependencies, and meets the criteria relating to:
Assessing impacts on the business
Assessing impacts on society and dependencies
Identifying the changes to biodiversity state that affect value
Providing Information about location and context
Assessing final ecosystem services
Being prudent by considering a minimum estimate and adopting a precautionary approach
Considering qualitative and quantitative factors to support the acknowledgement of intrinsic an relational values
Applying a precautionary approach where tipping points are expected and any biodiversity loss avoided
ESRS for CSRD
The Biodiversity Valuation can be applied to and aligned with European Sustainability Reporting Standards
(ESRS):
AR4
AR8 (c) and (d)
AR9 (a), (b), (c), and (d)
AR18
AR26
AR27
AR28
AR29
AR30
AR39
AR40
Financially valuing biodiversity goes beyond the specified ESRS recommendations presented to meet the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) by converting the recommended metrics into financial values, financial risk indicators, financial impact opportunities, financial targets, and financial impact measurements.
TPT- The Transition Plan Taskforce has opted not to provide recommendations or guidance regarding the use of biodiversity credits in transition plans.
How does the Biodiversity Valuator compare to other solutions in the market?
The Biodiversity Valuator is novel in that it:
Offers investors a universally understandable metric for biodiversity
Focuses on individual species and richness
Promotes in-setting with local biodiversity
Assesses performance and investment impact using verifiable data and models
Uniquely values the underlying financial value of the species and richness based on the contribution generated to society, the economy, and the environment
Can justify the value at risk of operations as a result of exposure to biodiversity risk
Provides stakeholders with a tangible Biodiversity ROI to encourage the integration of biodiversity into business activities
Ensures transparency, accountability, and quality biodiversity reporting for investors
Is flexible and can be used to value credits, debt-for-nature swaps, biodiversity bonds, and other biodiversity asset classes
The Biodiversity Valuator is unique in that it does not:
Issue biodiversity credits
Focus purely on human-centric, nature-based, or ecosystem solutions
Promote offsetting compensation for damage done to biodiversity elsewhere
Assess performance solely against complicated, indicative ecosystem and species numbers
Determine the value only against the conservation activity cost
Randomly allocate a value to biodiversity
Is the value a price that can be paid to purchase the species?
No, the valuation is not the price of the plant or animal - it is the planetary impact value that it creates for society, the economy, and the environment by surviving in the location in which it is valued.
Is the valuation an investment recommendation?
No, Endangered Wildlife OÜ is not in the business of giving financial or investment advice. The valuation is an independent review and assessment of impact. Our disclaimers make it very clear that this is not financial or investment advice, and that we cannot be held liable for decisions made against the valuations.