Nature’s Benefits: Getting more for restoration dollars Anne Guerry, Lead Scientist, Natural Capital Project NatCap Olympics, April 23 2012

“If we were running a business with the biosphere as our major asset, we would not allow it to depreciate. We would ensure that all necessary repairs and maintenance were carried out on a regular basis.” -Alan Malcolm

Natural Capital Financial Capital Built Capital Human Capital Social Capital

Developing science in support of decisions In particular, we are developing new accounting methods and tools to help inform decisions like restoration which we’ll focus on today.

Oceans and coasts provide many diverse benefits to people

In the late 1800’s the oyster population in Chesapeake Bay filtered the entire bay every 3.3 days. Current reduced populations do so every 325 days. (Newell 1988)

Bioeconomic model (Kahn & Kemp 85) 20% reduction in SAV, loss of 1-4M in fishery value

Oyster Reefs at Risk The Assessment seeks to quantify changes in abundance (either overall biomass or spatial extent of reefs) as well as the primary drivers of change. 85% loss of oyster reef ecosystems in bays and ecoregions; mangrove and saltmarsh (~50%) and coral reef (~20%) Beck et al BioScience 2011

Degraded systems provide fewer benefits Photo: VIMS

And remember the 3.3 days oysters from the 1800’s used to filter Ches Bay? Current reduced populations do so every 325 days.

And remember the 3.3 days oysters from the 1800’s used to filter Ches Bay? Current reduced populations do so every 325 days.

Present funding: oyster fishery enhancement and harm mitigation $10’s of millions $ to recover fisheries after hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico Metrics: near-term harvest only

Rebuild Reef Natural Capital Use existing funds better Assisting oyster fishers is important; do so for now and later long-term sustainable harvests of oysters increased resilience to storms full spectrum of benefits

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and NOAA helped TNC build oyster reefs and create marshes in Mobile Bay

3.5 miles of oyster reef designed as shoreline protection

Used habitat suitability in design Poised to put shells in the water Expected protection benefits They were poised to start putting oyster shells in the water… Used information about habitat suitability for oysters in design From general information about oyster reefs, expected shoreline protection benefits

Input Data (reflect scenarios) (ecosystem services & values) Marine InVEST Models Model Outputs (ecosystem services & values) ECOSYSTEM SERVICES VALUATION e.g. Value of carbon sequestered Carbon Carbon Sequestered TERRESTRIAL SYSTEMS Wave Energy Energy Captured Value of captured wave energy 3 BIO-PHYSICAL Coastal Protection Avoided Area Flooded/Eroded Value of avoided damages 9 Bathymetry & Topography Habitat Risk Species distribution SCENARIOS Expenditures due to recreation activity Recreation Visitation Rates 5 Oceanography 4 7 Habitat type Scenarios: (management options or climate lead to changes in social- ecological system) Flow rate, sediment, nutrients, toxic waste and bacteria Wastes, filtration De facto MPA Light attenuation, sedimentation Water purification Food supply (shellfish) Beachgoing Spawning, rearing Wave attentuation Water Quality Fishery Landed Biomass Net present value of finfish and shellfish 1 8 SOCIO-ECONOMIC 6 Aquaculture Harvested Biomass Population density 2 Demographics Aesthetic Quality Aquaculture operation costs Property values

Smart use of science helped get more for the restoration $ Model Results Process-based modeling of physical processes avoided unintended consequence of added erosion

habitat value ($) of reefs > oyster harvest value ($) Considering only landings of finfish that use restored & protected reefs, the 50 years of finfish harvest, destructive harvest of oyster after 5 years Peterson et al 2003

FTE at Height of the Project: 31 FTE = 83 positions Full Time Employees FTE at Height of the Project: 31 FTE = 83 positions Average FTE for the Project (20 months): 17 FTE = 44 positions

Over 2x the job creation of oil, gas & transportation sectors combined ARRA job creation $1M in coastal restoration 17-30 jobs Over 2x the job creation of oil, gas & transportation sectors combined

For every $1 spent in restoration, get $1.83 back Action: restore 10 ha of seagrass Scenario: major hurricane For every $1 spent in restoration, get $1.83 back Arkema et al in prep

National Climate Assessment Where do habitats reduce the vulnerability of coastal communities to sea level rise? Population metrics total population elderly population population below poverty line

Arkema et al in prep & Guannel et al in prep

value natural capital

value natural capital Rebuild CAPITAL, don’t just keep spending the principal recognize the suite of benefits natural systems provide

smart restoration provides many benefits

smart restoration provides many benefits use best available science to inform choices

restoration can be a good investment

restoration can be a good investment consider diverse benefits

A focus on nature’s benefits can shift incentives & help redirect existing funds Rebuild capital. Don’t keep spending what’s left of the principal

www.naturalcapitalproject.org

Appetite for restoration $680 million $3 billion Huge appetite for habitat restoration. Short and long term ecological and economic benefits

Restoration can bring back lost benefits Summary of 89 restoration assessments: Restoration increased biodiversity by 44% Restoration increased ecosystem services by 25% Rey Benayas 2009

4. We can value nature’s benefits

Gulf of Mexico Restoration Decision Support A project to inform the identification of restoration projects with maximum socio-economic and ecological benefits Consolidated information about the ecological, social and economic characteristics Designed to explore alternative restoration scenarios This process involves four key steps: identifying ecological criteria that define where restoration can be successful, identifying socio-economic criteria that determine when restoration is most feasible and beneficial collecting, processing and analyzing spatial data that represent those criteria delivering that information across the Web in a user-friendly mapping application. www.Gulfmex.CoastalResilience.org

InVEST Its free! and open source! www.naturalcapitalproject.org Accounting for nature’s benefits Its free! and open source! www.naturalcapitalproject.org

Oyster harvest Habitat for commercially important finfish Protection of the shoreline from coastal hazards Water quality

5. Restoration is expensive TEEB 2009

6 things to know about nature’s benefits (or ecosystem services) and restoration

“Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.”
- Aldous Huxley

For every $1 spent in restoration, get $1.83 back Action: restore 10 ha of seagrass Scenario: major hurricane For every $1 spent in restoration, get $1.83 back For every $1 spent in conservation, get $833 back Arkema et al in prep

Economic benefits of restoration across sectors can outweigh costs Bullock et al 2011 (from Blignaut et al. 2010)

value natural capital Restore natural capital, don’t just spend the principal

(ecosystem services & values) Harvested Biomass Landed Visitation Rates Avoided Area Flooded/Eroded Energy Captured Recreation Fisheries Aquaculture Coastal Protection Renewable Energy ECOSYSTEM SERVICES Model Outputs (ecosystem services & values) Marine InVEST Models VALUATION Aesthetic Quality Carbon Carbon Sequestered 2 6 1 8 9 3 7 4 5 Value of carbon sequestered Value of captured wave energy Expenditures due to recreation activity Net present value of finfish and shellfish Value of avoided damages/# people affected Habitat Risk Water Quality e.g. Guerry et al 2012

Restoration in the Gulf of Mexico “Put and take” oyster restoration Shoreline armoring (engineered) Put them together and you can get win-wins Initial projects do not reflect the values of natural capital

Practical guidance for design & Expected shoreline change

Model Results