ACES 2012 Conference

Ecosystem Services Short Course

Ft. Lauderdale, FL December 11, 2012

Welcome & Workshop Overview

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Welcome, on Behalf of Your Speakers

ENVIRON

• Joseph Nicolette, Ecosystem Services Task Force Leader; M.S.

Aquatic Ecologist

• Mark Rockel, Ph.D. natural resource economist

• Gretchen Greene, Ph.D. natural resource economist

• Tim Barber, Ph.D. marine scientist

World Resources Institute (WRI)

• Florence Landsberg, Ph.D. natural capitalist

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Agenda

(1) Theory and Practice

8:30 - 8:40 Welcome and Workshop Overview: Richard Wenning, ENVIRON

8:40 - 8:55 Evolution of Ecosystem Services: Joseph Nicolette, ENVIRON

8:55 - 9:40 Overview of Quantification and Valuation Approaches: Mark Rockel

and Gretchen Greene, ENVIRON

9:40 -10:00 Ecosystem services in impact assessment: Florence Landsberg, WRI

10:00 - 10:30 Break

(2) Case Studies - Decision-Making Incorporating Ecosystem Services

10:30 - 10:50 Applications of Ecosystem Services to Environmental Decision-Making,

Understanding the Net Change (NEBA and NESA); with case examples:

Joseph Nicolette, ENVIRON

10:50 - 11:05 NRDA Restoration Case Study: Tim Barber, ENVIRON

11:05 - 11:20 Land Development Case Study: Mark Rockel, ENVIRON

11:20 - 11:35 Site Remediation Case Study: Richard Wenning, ENVIRON

11:35 - 12:00 General Discussion - “Barriers to incorporating ecosystem services into

environmental decision-making”

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Workshop Goals

1. Overview of evolving "ecosystem services" field

2. Introduce the economic methods used to quantify

ecosystem services

3. Show practical applications where ecosystem

services can be incorporated into decision-making

4. Encourage interactive discussions

In making decisions regarding potential environmental impacts

associated with actions that can affect the environment,

stakeholders must be able to balance the risks, benefits, and

tradeoffs associated with a variety of actions.

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Joe Nicolette

Atlanta, GA

November 27, 2012

Evolution of Ecosystem Services

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Why Ecosystem Services?

• Ecosystems provide resources and

functions that we value

– these resources and functions are

valued because they provide benefits to

people in a variety of forms (e.g., clean

water, habitat for wildlife, aesthetics,

timber, recreation opportunities)

• Because we value these benefits,

we recognize that ecosystems

provide a service to people

– hence the term “Ecosystem Services”

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Gretchen Daily

Gretchen Daily

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2 Recent Ecosystem Services Pubs.

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Ecosystem Services

• Linking ecology, ecosystem services, and economic

assessments is the ultimate goal . . .

– Ecological characteristics tell us nothing about their

importance or value, unless paired with information on

economic importance

• Location, location, location . . .

– Determination of the economic value of ecosystem goods

and services is tied closely to their locations relative to

human use

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Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

“The benefits people obtain from ecosystems”

Ecosystems and

Human Well Being

(2005)

Largest Assessment

of the Health of

Earth’s Ecosystems

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Consequences of Ecosystem

Change for Human Well-being

Millennium Ecosystem

Assessment Ecosystems

and Human Well Being

(2005)

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• Services: The functions performed by a natural

resource for the benefit of another natural resource

and/or the public

– Ecological services - the physical, chemical, or biological

functions that one natural resource provides for another; and

– Human services - the human uses of natural resources or

functions of natural resources that provide value to the public

• Trustees address the physical and biological

environment, and the relationship of people with that

environment

Definitions (continued)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Guidance Documents for Natural

Resource Damage Assessment Under the Oil Pollution Action of 1990)

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Nesting Area for Birds

Breeding Area for Fish

Benthic Invertebrate Habitat

Sediment Stabilization

Water Quality

Many Others Ecological

Direct Human Uses (e.g.,

Recreational, Commercial)

Bird Watching

Swimming

Hunting and Fishing

Energy Development

Industrial Processes

Land Development

Many Others

Categorizing Ecosystem Services

Impact Assessment Considerations

Natural Resources

Property/Land

Habitats

Existence value

Aesthetic value

Preservation of diversity

T&E species

Others

Indirect/Passive Uses

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Ecosystem

Services

Years

Area A - Services Lost (Loss)

A

NRDA: Service to Service Process

Compares Injury and Benefits Over Time to the Baseline Condition

Baseline

Environmental Economics-based Approaches

Impacts and benefits are based on changes from the baseline (Pristine?)

0

Area B - Services Provided (Benefit)

B Baseline

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CERCLA

1980

Exxon

Valdez

1989

US NRDA

Regulations

1996

USEPA

2004-2011

U.S. Presidents

Report/NEA

2011

IFC

PS-6

2010-12

EU REMEDE,

UK

2008

2010-11

Pesticide

Registration

MA

2005

How Did We Get to “Ecosystem Services”?

Money

Ecosystem

Services

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Quantifying Services and Values

• Social, Economic and Environmental

Valuation

• Economic Methods to Determine the

Present Discounted Value of Changes in

Ecosystem Services Over Time

– Ecological Services

–Direct Human Uses

– Indirect Use/Passive Use

Perspective

“Not everything that can be counted counts, and

not everything that counts can be counted.”

Albert Einstein

Courts have warned against making “a fetish [of

market value] since that may not be the best

measure of value in some cases”

Ohio v. U.S. Department of the Interior 1989