Development of a Biodiversity Impact Assessment Application

In the context of modern environmental management, assessing the impact of corporate activities on areas with high biodiversity has become essential to support truly sustainable development. Regulatory pressures and growing environmental awareness are pushing many companies to integrate biodiversity criteria into their sustainability strategies, particularly to comply with CSRD and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) directives. The CSRD mandates reporting obligations for companies on environmental impact, including biodiversity, while the CDP, still voluntary for this aspect, is expected to become mandatory, requiring companies to identify the biodiversity zones impacted by their sites. This thesis describes the design, development, and implementation of a web application for assessing biodiversity impact at corporate sites, developed for EcoAct, an environmental and climate consulting firm. The application allows consultants to input geospatial data and instantly explore biodiversity impact through automated visualizations and analyses—without requiring external software. This process leverages seven to eight databases that provide detailed geospatial information on areas with high biodiversity concentrations, including UNESCO sites, locations with diverse habitats, and regions with various ecosystems or species. Using these data, the application assesses the impact of corporate sites on biodiversity, allowing consultants to conduct in-depth, data-driven analyses of corporate biodiversity impact. The goal is to create a practical and intuitive interface that simplifies and enhances the accuracy of the corporate biodiversity impact assessment process. The application, developed entirely in Python, combines front-end and back-end components to facilitate the analysis and visualization of environmental data. Key features include interactive dashboards, automated biodiversity risk indicator calculations, and customizable reporting, enabling assessments to align with CSRD and CDP requirements in a compliant and timely manner. This internal structure simplifies access to relevant environmental data and improves operational efficiency, reducing analysis time and costs. The development process was structured into multiple phases, from data collection and preprocessing to software architecture design. The backend was built using PostgreSQL for structured data management, Docker for a stable deployment environment, and MinIO for handling large geospatial datasets. The front-end, designed with Dash, provides an intuitive user interface that enables seamless navigation through biodiversity data. Special attention was given to data integrity, incorporating algorithms for biodiversity indicator calculations and automatic filters to handle inconsistencies. Beyond regulatory compliance, this application represents a significant step towards digitalizing biodiversity management, reinforcing EcoAct’s capacity to deliver advanced environmental solutions. By providing an integrated and user-friendly system, the tool fosters improved decision-making, greater corporate awareness, and more effective monitoring of biodiversity impact.