Many parts of the world may not have enough suitable land for green efforts to make up for the environmental damage caused by planned development like clearing forests for new roads or more plantations, a paper based on the principle of biodiversity offsetting warned. In Indonesia, for example, planting new vegetation to compensate for biodiversity losses from proposed mining and palm oil projects would require twice the amount of land available. In the southeast African nation of Mozambique, making up for new roads and mining operations that would hurt rare vegetation would mean conserving much more land than currently available. As countries around the world emerge from lockdowns imposed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, environmental experts have said protecting nature should not take a back seat.

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