Earth Economics’ Ecosystem Valuation Toolkit … · 2013-07-28 · • Les Kaufman, Boston...

Copyright © 2013 Earth Economics

Earth Economics’ Ecosystem Valuation Toolkit

(EVT)www.esvaluation.org

June 11, 2013

Nora Wahlund


501(c)3 founded in 1998

About Us


Where We Work


Freshwater Supply


Carbon Sequestration


Recreation


Provisioning Services • Biochemical,

Medicinal, Pharmaceutical

• Building and Fibre • Food products • Fuel Resources • Genetic Resources,

Cultivated Products • Ornamental

Resources • Transport

Infrastructure • Water for

Consumption Regulating Services

• Air Quality • Arable Land • Buffering Against

Extremes • Habitable Climate • Noise Abatement • Pollination • Productive Soils • Reduce Pests and Diseases • Water Quality Cultural Services • Aesthetic Values

• Cultural Diversity • Effect on Social

Interactions Iconic Landscapes

• Iconic Species • Inspiration • Knowledge Systems • Recreational

Opportunities • Sense of Place • Spiritual and

Religious Values • Therapeutic

Landscapes

MANY Ecosystem Services Taxonomies… e.g., SEQ Framework

Source : Maynard, 2012


Valuation And Services Ecosystem Service Amenability to

Economic Valuation Most Appropriate Method for Valuation

Gas Regulation Medium CV, A, RC

Climate Regulation Low CV, AC, RC

Disturbance Regulation High AC

Biological Regulation Medium AC, P

Water Regulation High M, AC, RC, H, P, CV

Soil Retention Medium AC, RC, H

Waste Regulation High RC, AC, CV

Nutrient Regulation Medium AC, RC, CV

Water Supply High AC, RC, M, TC

Food High M, P

Raw Materials High M, P

Genetic Resources Low M, AC

Medicinal Resources High AC, RC, P

Ornamental High AC, RC, H

Recreation High TC, CV, Ranking

Aesthetics High H, TC, CV, Ranking

Science and Education Low Ranking

Spiritual and Historic Low CV, Ranking

Adapted from : Farber, S., et. al., 2006


1. Primary Valuation = “Boots on the Ground” 2. BTM = “Comps” • Accepted economic methodology (analogous

to real estate or business valuations via comps) • Speaks to decision-makers when expressed in

currency units comparable to “built capital” • Time-efficient & cost-effective for rapid

assessment • Defensible if done according to best-practices

“Primary Valuation” and “Benefit Transfer Methodology” (BTM)


Built capital depreciates; natural capital is self-sustaining and appreciates


The Puyallup Watershed

Next Steps in Ecosystem Service Valuation:

1. Perfect our methodologies, 2. Expand the data repository, 3. Exponentially increase capacity!


Development of Ecosystem Service Database (ESD) with University of Vermont

Initial ESV Database

1998 2008 2010 2012


Ten years later, Earth Economics completes ten Ecosystem Service Valuations (ESVs). Average ESV takes 1 year to complete.

1998 2008 2010 2012 100s of values


In 2010, EE completes ten more ESVs. Average ESV takes 2.5 months to complete. In 2012, emergency Rapid ESV for all Wisconsin Wetlands done in 2 days.

1. Walla Walla

2. Puget Sound Basin

3. Snoqualmie

4. Snohomish

5. Smith Island

6. Mississippi River Delta

7. Ecuador

8. Costa Rica

9. Qinghai Province – China

10. Chehalis Flood Authority

1998 2008 2010 2012 Pivot Sheets


Overview of the Earth Economics’ Ecosystem Valuation Toolkit

(EVT)


Growing EVT Team (Apr. 2013) (w/ key tech members from Amazon, Expedia, Microsoft, T-Mobile, etc.)

Copyright © 2013 Earth Economics Copyright (c) 2013, Earth Economics

EVT Advisory Board (Apr. 2013)

• Bernardo Aguilar, Fundacion Neotropica • Ken Bagstad, USGS • Roelof Boumans, MIMES & AFORDable Futures • Robert Costanza, Australian National University • Rudolf de Groot, Wageningen University • Joshua Farley, University of Vermont • Bruce Jones, formerly USGS, Desert Research Institute • Les Kaufman, Boston University • Dixon Landers, EPA • John Loomis, Colorado State University • Rosimeiry Portela, Conservation International • Stefan Schmidt, Helmholz Centre for Environmental Research • Ferdinando Villa, ARIES & Basque Center for Climate Change • Scott Warner, Garvey, Schubert and Barer • Theddi Wright Chappel, Cushman and Wakefield


Expanding Community of EVT Partners includes:


Five Top-Level EVT Components

1. Resource Library 2. Researcher’s Library 3. Repository 4. Computational & Reporting Engine (SERVES:

Simple Effective Resources for Valuing Ecosystem Services)

5. Referral Service


Subset of EVT Strategic and Design Goals


Bringing ecosystem services

Into the mainstream


Standards, compliance, credibility


Connecting researchers and decision makers


Partnerships and integration

• Aries • MIMES • InVEST • EPA EnviroAtlas • FEMA Benefit Cost Analysis • ArcGIS • And more…


Harmonizing taxonomies


Gap analysis


> 45,000 Ecosystem Service Studies


Global reach

And future localization


Building

tools with

users in mind


Managing conversion


Researcher’s Library


Transcription


From many formats…

…into one


Change which values you view…

SERVES preview


And how you view them.


For asset values, modify timespan and discount rate on the fly.


Select all values...

…or just the ones you need.

Export your values…


…for your further use.


Thank You! Nora Wahlund EarthEconomics.org ESValuation.org email: EVT @ eartheconomics.org


1998 2008 2010 2013

EVT: 10,000s of studies

nx

Simple Effective Resource for Valuing Ecosystem Services


Identify case study needs Connect with practitioners

Land Managers Policy Makers

& Planners

Referral Resources:

Researchers &

Students

Expert referral Commission a specific study


Ecosystem service valuation Natural capital accounting Benefit-cost analysis Return on investment analysis

Land Managers Policy Makers

& Planners

Decision Resources:


Gaps analysis Transcribe values Review & comment studies Upload new studies Credibility ranking Track value application Model inputs

Researchers &

Students

Research Resources:


Applied ecosystem service examples Valuation best practices Communications tools Return on investment analysis

Training and Communication Resources:


Valuation Methods

Avoided Cost Replacement Cost Factor Income Travel Cost Hedonic Pricing Marginal Product Estimation Contingent Valuation Group Valuation

Examples of Valuation Methodologies: Cost of storm damage resulting from reduced wetlands

Cost of building a water treatment plant in place of forest filtration

Income generated from increased commercial catch from marine park

nurseries

What visitors are willing to pay to travel to a place

Increased home value with a view or beach access

etc....


Subset of EVT Strategic Goals • Mainstreaming adoption of ecosystem goods and services

valuation via sound science and proper framing • Strong collaboration and partnerships • Compliance to GASB, ISO 9000, SSAE-16, and other

standards to ensure defensibility of financial outputs • Matchmaking between ESV practitioners, academics and

clients • Harmonize (“Cross-Walk”) typologies of ecosystem

descriptors, beneficiaries, etc. • Expose data-gaps • Establish ESV reporting standards & data exchange

(“ESVML”) • Self-sustaining business model • Internationalization (Spanish, Mandarin, etc.)


EVT Design Goals • World’s largest repository of primary Ecosystem Service

monetary and non-monetary values • Cloud-based (AWS) • User-focused interface design and processes • Transparent currency conversion and inflation adjustment • Scalable for different applications and scales (Biomes, Regions,

Sectors, Projects, Sites) and user communities (Governments, NGOs, Land Planners, Flood Plain Managers, Academics, etc

• Integrated auditing / peer review / study quality ranking • Support for gap analysis and BI • Application Program Interfaces (APIs) to exchange data with

other repositories / services (ArcGIS, ARIES, InVEST, MIMES, EPA Enviroatlas, FEMA BCA… and others TBD)


1. EVT Resource Library (Goal: to educate and proliferate)

1.1 Free ESV Resources

Introductory ESV Materials ESV Best-Practices Exemplary ESV Studies from EE & Partners

1.2 Fee-based ESV Resources Natural Capital Analyses Applied to Policy Making Multi-Criteria Analysis Benefit Cost Analysis Natural Capital Accounting


2. EVT Researcher’s Library (Goal: to ensure integrity, quality and defensibility of ESV data)

2.1 World’s largest validated repository of Ecosystem Services Valuation values and literature 2.2 Study submissions (individual transcription & bulk imports via ETLs and APIs) 2.3 Community ranking of study quality 2.4 ESV Practitioner networking


3. EVT Computational & Reporting Engines (SERVES) (Goal: generate Ecosystem Services Valuations for user

Areas & Subjects of Interest) 3.1 Rigorously rules-based Benefit Transfer Methodology ESVs for baseline analyses and scenario-deltas 3.2 Report outputs in customizable formats for ease of integration into users’ required standard reporting (ASFPM, ESA, FEMA, etc.) 3.3 APIs or Data-Mapping w/ complementary services (ARIES, EPA EnviroAtlas, Invest, MIMES, others TBD) 3.4 Mapping to EPA’s Ecological Production Function Library


4.1 Study submission (individual transcription / bulk upload via ETLs and APIs) 4.2 Empirical harmonization of taxonomies of ecosystems , ecosystem services, beneficiaries, survey instruments, etc. 4.3 Studies scrutinized by trained Ecological Economists prior to inclusion in EVT (2 reviewers for each study) 4.4 Algorithmically monitored community ranking and Economist evaluation of study quality 4.5 Gap analyses to expose unanswered questions and encourage research on understudied regions, services, etc.

4. EVT Repository (Goal: world’s most comprehensive repository of candidate ESV data)


5. EVT Referral Service (Goal: link ESV practitioners, policy-makers, citizens, etc.)

5.1 ESV “Help-Wanteds” 5.2 ESV Practitioner “Services Available” 5.3 Announcements about urgent needs to fill gaps in collective knowledge


Step-by-step wizard makes it easy to create your queries.

SERVES preview

And so on…


Or Filter Studies topically: below, “Recreation” or “Insects”


Total Value Measured Value

Earth Economics’ Ecosystem Valuation Toolkit … · 2013-07-28 · • Les Kaufman, Boston...

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Transcript of Earth Economics’ Ecosystem Valuation Toolkit … · 2013-07-28 · • Les Kaufman, Boston...