Economic and Environmental Sustainability: Working with New

Partners and IncentivesFrank Casey, Ph.D

Conservation Economics Program

Defenders of Wildlife

Conference of the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association

Washington, DC. March 3, 2009

Cooperative Conservation • Marketplace for Nature

• Conservation Registry

• Other Partnership Options

• Why Do It?

Cooperative Conservation Activities

It Can Be Done• California Rangeland Conservation

Coalition

• Willamette Partnership

• North Carolina “Inner” Banks

Ecosystem Service Markets

• Climate, water, and gas regulation

• Water supply, nutrient supply

• Soil formation, nutrient cycling

• Waste management, biological control

• Wildlife habitat, food production

• Recreation, cultural and scenic values

• Provisioning services

What is an ecosystem marketplace?• System for buying and selling

ecosystem services • Wetland and conservation banks • Offset, or cap-and-trade

programs• Voluntary transactions

Why an ecosystem marketplace? • Doubled population by 2020• Habitat loss and fragmentation• Climate change, water shortages, endangered species

Why?Existing programs are not enough:• 100% compliance is not enough• Regulations are unevenly applied• Investments are scattered and

piecemeal

Marketplace for Nature• Try to capture multiple values

• Buyers needed

• Conservation opportunity areas exist: state wildlife action plans

• Rules of the game: Federal Office of Ecosystem Services and Marketing

Essential elements of the Marketplace for Nature1. Ecologically effective2. Address multiple values3. Strategic investment at

landscape scale4. Transparent and credible to public5. Accessible with low transaction

costs

What is the Conservation Registry?

• An online, centralized database

• Tracks and maps conservation projects across the landscape

• Synthesis and project management tool

The Registry captures . . .Three categories of actions:

• Habitat Restoration and Management• Enhanced Conservation Status• Monitoring, Education and Research

Projects can be:• Proposed, in progress, completed and

ongoing management projects

Conservation Registry home page: www.conservationregistry.org

Other Areas for Conservation Partnerships

Control of Invasive Species

2009 Economic Stimulus: Matching Gray with Green

Economic Valuation of Conservation Benefits• Open space property values premium• Wetland conservation

Threatened and endangered species conservation • Recreational use and values: hunting, fishing, wildlife

viewing http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/science_and_econo

mics/conservation_economics/valuation/benefits_toolkit.php

Resources• Ecosystem services benefits valuation toolkit/models

http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/science_and_economics/conservation_economics/index.php

• Florida Ranchlands Environmental Services Project: http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/globalmarkets/agriculture/FRESP.html

• Willamette Partnership: http://www.williamettepartnership.org/tools-templates. Countingontheenvironment.pdwiki.com

• National Working Group on Ecosystem Services Valuation: atodd@fs.fed.us

• Parametrix, Inc. EcoMetrix: Environmental Services Accounting: dhess@parametrix.com

• Pinchot Institute: http://pinchot.org/current_projects/baybank

Why Partnerships

But Importantly

THANK YOU

Frank Casey - fcasey@defenders.org Sara Vickerman – svickerman@defenders.org

Conservation Economics Program Defenders of Wildlife