InVEST A Tool for Mapping and Valuing Environmental Services Nirmal Bhagabati World Wildlife Fund and The Natural Capital Project

What we will cover What is InVEST? What does it do? –Questions InVEST is / is not designed to inform –Key characteristics Examples –World Bank investment prioritization in Malawi –Spatial planning in Sumatra –Coastal zone management in Belize –etc Practical considerations –Common challenges –Resources required

“You can only manage what you can measure” –Ecosystem services ‘invisible’ in decisions –Need to evaluate choices, quantify tradeoffs 3 Challenge: Integrated decision-making

4 Decision-maker questions –What would be the best (marine) spatial plan for balancing stakeholders’ visions for the future? –Where to invest to optimize nature’s benefits for people? –Where may REDD, payments for watershed services, and other environmental services-based programs be feasible? –Where should payments be targeted to be cost- effective? ANSWERS: Accounting tools that quantify ecosystem services

InVEST Quantify, map & value ecosystem service impacts of alternative resource decisions (Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs)

InVEST within decision making Stakeholders Scenarios Results Policy input Mapping tool Now2050 Now2050 C (tons) Policy implementation

–Evaluate change –Biophysical & economic –Free and open source InVEST attributes –Multiple services –Spatially explicit –Production functions Tier 1Tier 2Tier 3 Models Data SimpleComplex Tier 0 Currently ArcGIS-based, but platform independent version in development

Multiple Ecosystem Services Fisheries Aquaculture Coastal Protection Recreation Wave Energy Habitat Risk Asst Aesthetic Quality Water Quality Water purification Sediment retention Crop pollination Hydropower Irrigation water NTFP Flood control Commercial timber Biodiversity Carbon sequ’n Agricultural prod’n

Terrestrial/freshwater model: Tier 1 supporting service Terrestrial/freshwater model: Tier 1 that quantifies service Coastal Vulnerability Coastal Protection Overlap Analysis Renewable Energy Habitat Risk Assessment; Biodiversity Reservoir Hydropower Production Sediment Retention Managed Timber Production Crop Pollination Water Purification Marine model: Tier 1 that quantifies service Marine model: Tier 0 Marine model: Tier 1 supporting service InVEST Models & Linkages Aesthetic Quality Recreation Carbon Storage & Sequestration Carbon Storage & Sequestration (Blue Carbon) Agricultural Production Flood Risk Mitigation Groundwater Recharge Fisheries (including recreational) Aquaculture Marine Water Quality Optional model linkage, no sequencing Required/optional model linkage, sequencing needed Model coming soon!

Outputs of ecosystem service levels supplied and demanded

And ecosystem service values in currency units Social value – Carbon Market valuation – Timber – Non-timber forest products Avoided damage costs – Water purification – Flood mitigation – Avoided reservoir sedimentation Production Economics – Water for irrigation – Pollination of agricultural crops

Strong Scientific Foundation authors Oxford University Press Published April 2011

Accompanying Tools AVAILABLE NOW: TEEB (& other) Case Studies Screening Criteria InVEST in Practice e.g. SEA InVEST Tip Sheets e.g. REDD Scenario Guidance & Primer Scenario generation tools COMING SOON: Engaging stakeholders Conditions that enable uptake Linking to human wellbeing

InVEST models – a sampler

The carbon model - big picture Atmosphere Soil type, moisture Microbes, chemistry Species Harvested Wood Products Aboveground biomass Belowground biomass Dead wood Atmosphere Land management Land use history Decay Soil carbon Climate

InVEST Carbon Storage Model Atmosphere Soil type, moisture Microbes, chemistry Species Harvested Wood Products Aboveground biomass Belowground biomass Dead wood Atmosphere Land management Land use history Soil carbon Decay 5 pools x f(cost/ton) = Value Climate

InVEST avoided sedimentation model  Where are the Sediment sources?  Where are the Sediment retention areas?  How much is retained?  What is the Value of this retention?

Uses a modified version of the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) Stream Corn Forest Corn InVEST Avoided Sedimentation Model Also maps value of avoided erosion to downstream beneficiary

NEXT Mainstreaming InVEST: case studies

China Eastern Arc Mtns California Hawai’i Amazon Basin Colombia Ecuador WCVI, B.C. Belize Chesapeake Bay Puget Sound Galveston Bay Coastal & Marine Indonesia Mainstreaming InVEST Virungas Terrestrial (E. Himalayas) (Mekong) Since Dec 2011, over 1700 InVEST downloads from 45+ countries (>100 countries overall)

Many kinds of decision context Decision ContextGeography Spatial Planning Tanzania, Indonesia, British Colombia, Hawai’i, China, Belize Ecosystem-based management (terrestrial-marine links) USA (Puget Sound, Galveston & Chesapeake Bays) Climate adaptationUSA - Galveston & Monterey Bays Payments for ecosystem services Colombia (water funds), Indonesia (REDD), Tanzania Impact assessment, permitting, licensing Colombia (mining) Multilateral development bank investments World Bank in Malawi Corporate strategyLafarge in Michigan, USA

22 Challenges –Data – even for Tier 0 / 1 models –Capacity to interpret and apply –Water-related services –Government silos

Resources required Expertise needed –GIS expertise for gathering and formatting data –Subject matter experts e.g. hydrology, economics, carbon –Project lead who understands policy questions Time estimate vary depending on –location –scale of work –expertise of working team Full run of model, from data gathering to results –As little as 1 to 3 months –But often longer!! (18-24 months and counting)

More information

25 Thanks… People Andrew Balmford Taylor Ricketts Neil Burgess Gretchen Daily Brendan Fisher Peter Kareiva Eric Lonsdorf Guillermo Mendoza Robin Naidoo Erik Nelson Nasser Olwero Steve Polasky Jim Regetz Amy Rosenthal Mathieu Rouget Mary Ruckelshaus Heather Tallis Buzz Thompson Kerry Turner … Support NSF NSF-NCEAS NASA Leverhulme Trust Google Packard Foundation MacArthur Foundation Moore Foundation Summit Foundation Roger and Vicki Sant Peter and Helen Bing … People Anne Guerry Jodie Toft Katie Arkema Rich Sharp Jon Foley CK Kim Gregg Verutes Driss Ennaanay Stacie Wolny Amy Rosenthal Nirmal Bhagabati Jim Salzman Chris Colvin Mike Papenfus Greg Guannel Joey Bernhardt Spencer Wood Pam Matson …

Any questions?

Terrestrial sites China Tanzania California Hawai’i Colombia Sumatra Virungas Amazon

Marine sites Vancouver Island Belize Chesapeake Bay Puget Sound Galveston Bay Monterey Bay

Production functions Carbon storage ~ f(veg, storage/ha, harvest, decay) Inputs: land use/cover, C densities, harvest rates, decay rates of harvested wood. Outputs: C stored/ha Valuation: damage costs avoided Sediment retention ~ f(soil, slope length, veg, rain, neighbors) Inputs: land use/cover, topography, soils, precip, basins Outputs: tons sediment retained/ha Valuation: replacement costs avoided (dredging)

Biophysical & socio-economic outputs Water for IrrigationCrop Pollination Supply Maximum potential services Total surface runoff from each land parcel on landscape (vol. ha -1 ) Insect abundance (# insects ha -1 ) Use Intermediate service Amount of water used for crop irrigation (vol. ha -1 ) Insect abundance contributing to crop (# of insects ha -1 ) Use Final service Additional crop yield given additional water available for irrigation (kg ha -1 ) Crop yield due to insects (kg crop ha -1 ) ValueNPV of additional crop yield($ ha -1 )

Free and open source Ready to use, but customizable

Why assess ecosystem services? Important for economy and human wellbeing More comprehensive accounting of impacts Engage a wider array of stakeholders Generate financing for conservation Suggest innovative policy mechanisms