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Benefit indicators to promote and prioritize wetlands restoration
Citation:
Bousquin, J., M. Mazzotta, K. Hychka, C. Ojo, C. Druschke, AND W. Berry. Benefit indicators to promote and prioritize wetlands restoration. National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration, Coral Springs, FL, April 18 - 22, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
We present a rapid assessment approach that provides non-monetary metrics, using benefit indicators, to compare benefits of restoring different wetland sites. We demonstrate the general approach to using non-monetary benefit indicators with an application to urban wetlands restoration sites in the Woonasquatucket Watershed in Rhode Island, USA.
Description:
Ecological restoration of wetlands can reestablish ecosystem services that provide valuable social and environmental benefits. Explicitly characterizing these benefits can help managers garner support for restoration and better allocate scarce resources among potential restoration projects. Existing metrics for weighing the benefits of restoration have limitations. While metrics based on ecological functioning and expected ecosystem service production are useful, they neglect vital information for evaluating tradeoffs: who benefits from the resulting ecosystem services and by how much. At the other end of the spectrum, economic valuation studies monetize the value of wetlands, but such studies are often too resource intensive for the type of localized decisions that need to be made and it is not possible to monetize all benefits.We present a rapid assessment approach that provides non-monetary metrics, using benefit indicators, to compare benefits of restoring different wetland sites. These benefit indicators are based on economic concepts and reflect the factors that contribute to economic value, including the extent of market (which determines the number of people who benefit), available substitutes, and preferences of those who benefit. We designed these benefit indicators to complement existing functional indicators, in order to provide a more complete picture of both supply and demand for potential restored ecosystem services.We demonstrate the general approach to using non-monetary benefit indicators with an application to urban wetlands restoration sites in the Woonasquatucket Watershed in Rhode Island, USA. The specific benefit indicators used are transferable to similar urbanizing watersheds. With adjustments, the approach is transferable to other types of restoration and additional ecosystem services.