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Businesses could benefit significantly from commercial opportunities presented by biodiversity, a new report claims today.

The study from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Shell International says the business case for conserving nature is strong and getting stronger.

It details a number of ways businesses are already generating profits while helping nature.

But the report calls for policy reforms to increase the rewards for conserving biodiversity and to provide better information on the biodiversity performance of business.

"There are numerous pro-biodiversity business opportunities that can generate significant profits as well as benefits for nature," said Dr Joshua Bishop, IUCN's senior adviser on economics and the environment.

"But a few inspiring examples aren't enough. This report shows how to achieve a major increase in business investment in biodiversity conservation, by linking policy reforms, technical assistance and innovative financing tools."

Examples of practices already undertaken by businesses to help the environment, as well as the bottom line, include ecotourism; production of sustainable timber; and bioprospecting - the search for new compounds, genes and organisms in the wild.

The latter sector is predicted by some to be worth as much as US$500 million by 2050.

"For businesses to conserve biodiversity it must ultimately become more profitable to protect nature and use natural resources sustainably, rather than ignore or destroy it," said Sachin Kapila, group biodiversity adviser at Shell International.