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Description

Biodiversity Fundamentals: Understanding, Assessing and Reducing Your Impact

Understand ecosystems and the pressures created by business activity in order to act where it genuinely matters

  • 1 day — 7 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

Biodiversity remains the neglected dimension of environmental programmes. Organisations are comfortable discussing energy and emissions but struggle to articulate how their activity weighs on natural habitats. Yet the pressures are identifiable: land use, water abstraction, diffuse pollution, habitat fragmentation and the introduction of non-native species.

This one-day introduction provides the ecological reference points needed to understand what living systems depend on and how an activity interacts with them. It presents the main pressures, the concepts of dependency and impact, and the levers available at site level. Each participant identifies the pressures generated by their own organisation.

Learning objectives

  • Explain how ecosystems function and the services they provide
  • Identify the pressures an activity exerts on natural habitats
  • Distinguish an activity's dependency on nature from its impact on nature
  • Identify the action levers available at site or supply chain level
  • Build an initial biodiversity roadmap for your organisation

What makes this programme different

Every ecological concept is linked to a concrete organisational decision
Pressures are identified against the participants' real business activity
The distinction between dependency and impact structures the entire day

Programme

1Understanding Living Systems

The ecological basics that support decision-making

  • Diversity of species, habitats and genes
  • How an ecosystem functions and its chains of interdependence
  • Services provided by natural habitats to human activity
  • Patterns of biodiversity loss and their main causes

2Pressures, Dependencies and Impacts

Connecting economic activity to living systems

  • Land use and soil sealing
  • Resource abstraction and water use
  • Diffuse pollution and chemical inputs
  • Habitat fragmentation and invasive non-native species
  • Distinguishing dependency on nature from impact on nature

3Taking Action at Your Own Level

Choosing proportionate levers

  • Avoid, reduce and offset within projects
  • Ecological management of a site's outdoor areas
  • Factoring nature into procurement and sourcing decisions
  • Engaging teams and building local partnerships
  • Monitoring the actions undertaken

Who is it for

Environment managers · CSR managers · sustainability officers · site technical managers · developers and public authority representatives.

Prerequisites

No prior knowledge required

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.