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Benefit Indicator Tools for Assessing Restoration Projects Based on who Benefits from Restored Ecosystem Services
Citation:
Bousquin, J., M. Mazzotta, M. Russell, D. Martin, AND L. Sharpe. Benefit Indicator Tools for Assessing Restoration Projects Based on who Benefits from Restored Ecosystem Services. Presented at National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration, New Orleans, LA, August 26 - 30, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
We present a general approach to using non-monetary benefit indicators and an application to urban wetlands restoration. We show how this approach extends existing assessments to not only consider where ecosystem goods and services are produced but also how people are benefitting from those goods and services. This allows for spatial differences in demand for ecosystem goods and services to be better considered in decisions making.
Description:
Ecological restoration projects are often performed to reestablish the flow of Ecosystem Goods and Services (EGS) that provide valuable benefits to people. However, the realized benefits people actually receive and how they value those benefits may differ even when production of EGS is the same at several restored sites. Explicitly identifying the people who would benefit from restored EGS and characterizing the relative value of the restored benefits can help managers better allocate scarce resources among potential restoration projects. Economic valuation studies can monetize the value of EGS, but such studies are often too resource intensive for the localized decisions that commonly need to be made. We present a rapid assessment approach that provides non-monetary benefit indicator metrics to compare and optimize restoring alternative sites based on their benefits to people. These benefit indicators are based on economic concepts, such as extent of market and scarcity, and reflect the factors that contribute to economic value. We designed these benefit indicators to complement existing ecosystem goods and services assessments, which focus primarily on evaluating ecosystem functions or the production of ecosystem services, to provide a more complete picture of both supply and demand for potential restored ecosystem services. We provide an overview of the tools currently available for applying benefit indicators for freshwater wetland restoration sites and give examples of communities where these tools have been applied. With adjustments, the general approach is transferable for assessing additional ecosystems and ecosystem services.