Aspect
Biosecurity and Biodiversity Management
Biosecurity and biodiversity management spans all three dimensions. Governance encompasses national biosecurity frameworks, biodiversity commitments, and regulatory obligations. Planning and Development covers baseline surveys, impact assessment, and mitigation hierarchy application during port development. Operations includes day to day inspection, ballast water and biofouling management, waste reception, habitat protection, and ongoing monitoring.
Summary
Biosecurity and biodiversity management is a critical operational and planning aspect of green port management, encompassing the prevention of invasive species introductions, protection and restoration of coastal ecosystems, and management of port development and operations to avoid significant harm to native biodiversity.
For ports across Asian Development Bank (ADB) Developing Member Countries (DMCs), biosecurity and biodiversity management is particularly significant given the exceptional marine and coastal biodiversity found across many DMCs, including extensive mangrove ecosystems, coral reefs, seagrass meadows and other coastal habitats, and the concentration of international shipping and trade that creates pathways for pest and invasive species transfer.
Internationally, biosecurity and biodiversity in ports are shaped by frameworks including the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2023 Guidelines for the Control and Management of Ships' Biofouling (IMO, 2023), the IMO International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM Convention), and the Global Environment Facility, United Nations Development Programme, and IMO GloFouling Partnerships Project (GEF, UNDP and IMO, n.d.). The International Finance Corporation Performance Standard 6 on Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources establishes environmental and social risk management standards applied by many lenders and port developers (IFC, 2012).
The World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC) has developed the Working with Nature framework, which provides guidance on integrating ecosystem considerations into port development and infrastructure (PIANC, 2018). PIANC awards Working with Nature Certificates of Recognition to navigation infrastructure projects that deliver environmental and biodiversity benefits alongside infrastructure outcomes (PIANC, 2024).
The World Economic Forum Nature Positive: Role of the Port Sector report articulates the emerging nature positive agenda for ports (World Economic Forum, 2025). Peer reviewed research has reviewed biodiversity research in ports (Madon et al., 2023) and biological invasions via ballast water (Costa-Areglado et al., 2025).
In the ASEAN region, the ASEAN Biodiversity Plan and the ASEAN Strategy on Sustainable Mangrove Ecosystem Management (adopted 2024) establish regional frameworks for biodiversity conservation and mangrove ecosystem protection, directly relevant to port developments in coastal mangrove areas (ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, 2024). A systematic review of mangrove restoration studies in Southeast Asia published in Frontiers in Marine Science provides an evidence base for restoration approaches applicable to port offsets and compensation projects (Gerona-Daga and Salmo, 2022). The ADB publication Financing the Ocean Back to Health in Southeast Asia: Approaches for Mainstreaming Blue Finance identifies investment approaches and finance mechanisms for a sustainable ocean economy (ADB, 2021).
Effective port biosecurity and biodiversity management encompasses several complementary practices: inspection of cargo, containers, and vehicles; ballast water and biofouling management; provision of waste reception facilities; habitat protection and restoration programs; and biodiversity and biosecurity monitoring.
These practices collectively can prevent invasive species introductions, protect and enhance coastal ecosystems, support climate adaptation through nature based solutions, and build compliance with international and national biosecurity and biodiversity obligations (IFC, 2012; PIANC, 2018).
In DMCs, several ports have implemented notable biosecurity and biodiversity programs. In Singapore, about 2,300 hard coral colonies were relocated from Sultan Shoal ahead of the Tuas Terminal development, and monitoring showed 92 percent survival after one year (MPA, 2015). For Kuala Tanjung Port in Indonesia, a 2020 study assessed a nature based design concept (Taneja et al., 2020). Alignment with the Taskforce on Nature related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommendations (TNFD, 2023) is emerging among major port operators for nature related risk reporting.
Strong biosecurity and biodiversity management protects marine and coastal ecosystems, supports fisheries and aquaculture, enables natural climate adaptation, and prevents economic and social losses from invasive species and habitat degradation.
This aspect contributes to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 15 (Life on Land), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).