Habitat Protection assesses how a company prevents the loss or degradation of ecologically-important areas it owns, operates in, or influences through its supply chain. The topic covers the full mitigation hierarchy avoid, minimise, restore, offset and includes:

• identifying critical habitats (e.g., Key Biodiversity Areas, Natura 2000 sites, wetlands, peatlands) and putting them under formal protection or set-aside status;

• implementing buffer zones, ecological corridors and seasonal work stoppages to safeguard species during sensitive periods;

• integrating area-based conservation measures (OECMs) and Indigenous & community-conserved areas into land‐use plans;

• monitoring habitat condition and species trends with remote sensing, field surveys or eDNA;

• publicly disclosing hectares protected, management actions and outcomes.