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

2. “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

3. Natural
Capital
Financial
Capital
Built
Capital
Human
Capital
Social
Capital

4. 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.

5. Oceans and coasts provide many diverse benefits to people

9. 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)

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

12. 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

13. Degraded systems provide fewer benefits
Photo: VIMS

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

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

18. 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

19. 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

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

21. 3.5 miles of oyster reef designed as shoreline protection

22. 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

23. 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

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

25. 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

26. 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

27. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. Arkema et al in prep & Guannel et al in prep

34. value natural capital

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

36. smart restoration provides many benefits

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

38. restoration can be a good investment

39. restoration can be a good investment
consider diverse benefits

40. 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

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

43. 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

44. 4. We can value nature’s benefits

45. 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.

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

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

48. 5. Restoration is expensive
TEEB 2009

49. 6 things to know about nature’s benefits (or ecosystem services) and restoration

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

51. 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

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

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

54. (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

55. 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

56. Practical guidance for design & Expected shoreline change

57. Model Results