From Biodiversity Assessment to Action: A Case Study Compilation

The first, second and fourth principles of the Sports for Nature Framework call on members to protect nature, restore and regenerate ecosystems, and inspire positive action across and beyond sport. An important early step on that journey is undertaking a biodiversity assessment. This systematic evaluation helps organisations understand their relationship with nature, identify their impacts and dependencies, and determine where action can have the greatest benefit for biodiversity.

The 2025 Sports for Nature Annual Reporting cycle showed that across geographies, organisational types and very different ecosystems, members are already doing this work independently and often without a shared vocabulary. They are commissioning ecological surveys, identifying species of concern, mapping habitats and building monitoring into their operations.

This compilation is a mirror of biodiversity assessment in action: six Sports for Nature members, operating in very different ecological and sporting contexts, sharing how they approached the process, what they discovered, and how those insights informed action.

This compilation is not a technical manual, and it does not endorse any single method as best practice. Methods, scope and rigour vary case by case, each shaped by its own local, regulatory and ecological context. The case studies that follow show how six organisations approached the work, and what they learned along the way.

The table below shows the Six case studies at glance.

Across the case studies, 5 patterns emerged.

• The trigger is rarely a choice, until it becomes one: In five of the six cases, the assessment began in response to an external trigger, whether a law, an NGO, a permit requirement, a certification scheme or a framework commitment. Once organisations experience the process, they begin to see biodiversity assessment as a management tool rather than an obligation.
• The best assessments start with a question, not a survey: Every case narrowed what it needed to learn before designing the study: could the event go ahead without harm? Which species should shape design? Defining the decision first made findings more useful.
• External expertise shows up every time, but the form varies: Accredited Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) bodies, marine observers, academic partners, restoration charities and consultancies all played a role. The partnerships took different forms, but no organisation worked entirely alone.
• Scope is kept deliberately tight: None of the six tried to assess everything. Each scoped to an area of influence, a set of indicator species, or a handful of themes, often after reviewing existing records first.
• Timing is the single most common lesson: Assessments that feed decisions need to happen upstream of them. World Rowing’s and FMA’s clearest takeaways were both about timing. Late assessments can still generate valuable evidence, but they cannot change the plan.
• Assessment is becoming continuous, not one-off: Crans-sur-Sierre and the British Mountaineering Council have moved beyond a single study into repeated assessment cycles. Monitoring is becoming routine. The question is no longer whether to assess, but how to turn assessment into a rhythm.