The Mott Haven-Port Morris Plan Waterfront Plan (“the Waterfront Plan”), developed through a community visioning process led by South Bronx Unite, aims to increase access to the local waterfront and create green spaces to improve quality-of-life, mitigate air pollution, create better health outcomes, and protect the community from flooding from coastal storms and sea level rise. Earth Economics, South Bronx Unite, and the Center for Sustainable Urban Development’s Resilient Coastal Communities Project collaborated to estimate the value of Waterfront Plan’s economic and community benefits.
This year, with funding from the Ingrid Rasch Legacy Fund, Earth Economics was able to offer pro bono services to PeaceTrees Vietnam, mapping the impacts of environmental and climate change-related hazards to support their work in the humanitarian mine action space. Sea level rise, extreme precipitation, and ongoing development all increase risk exposure and shift mine locations.
The Avahoula Climate Mitigation Project is a nature-positive investment by Delta Land Services and Pachama. The conversion of 7,200 acres of marginal agricultural land to forested wetland will create $80 million in benefits annually and protecting $2.7 billion in benefits in perpetuity (discounted at 3 percent) for 67,000 Louisiana residents and 46,000 tourists. By converting sub-optimal and climate vulnerable agricultural land to priority habitat, Avahoula mitigates climate change impacts and addresses the biodiversity crisis.
Earth Economics, Groundwork USA, and Groundwork Hudson Valley have published “Green Stormwater Infrastructure for Affordable Housing in Yonkers, NY” based on the results of an ecosystem services valuation of Groundwork Hudson Valley’s Climate Safe Neighborhoods program.
The mission of Amigos de los Rios is to create the “Emerald Necklace,” a network of green spaces, green schools, parks, and trails throughout under-served communities in the Los Angeles Basin. Focusing on equitable access to nature, Amigos de los Rios uses a whole-systems approach to watershed and social restoration. Earth Economics partnered with Amigos de los Rios to assess the social, environmental, and economic benefits of the Watershed Discovery Campus of Mary W. Jackson Elementary (Jackson Elementary) with generous support from the Ingrid Rasch Legacy Fund.
Since 2013, we have supported FEMA as it has incorporated ecosystem service benefits of nature-based solutions into its Benefit-Cost Analysis Toolkit for hazard mitigation assistance applicants. This includes updates to FEMA’s baseline ecosystem service valuation estimates in 2016, 2020, and 2022, which expanded the variety of eligible landcover and green infrastructure project elements.
WE STAY/ Nos Quedamos is a South Bronx-based Community Development Corporation founded in 1992 within the Melrose Commons Urban Renewal Area. Its mission is to engage, empower, and transform the marginalized communities of the South Bronx to help them remain and thrive. Nos Quedamos has brought over $500 million in investment to the area, including affordable housing for more than 4,000 families, infrastructure and broadband access, open space and parks, education and trade programs, environmental health, and social justice advocacy. Earth Economics partnered with Nos Quedamos to conducting an analysis of the benefits of three Resilience Hubs to help them as they further develop these social- and built-infrastructure hybrid solutions.
Following Hurricane Ian (September, 2022), the Environmental Defense Fund of Florida hired Earth Economics to identify the complex impacts of hurricanes on tourism and agricultural sectors of the state’s rural economies. Hurricanes can make tourism destinations less desirable by damaging the amenities and infrastructure services. They also often have broad impacts on agriculture, flooding fields, damaging crops, harming livestock, and also impacting critical infrastructure. Rural economies are disproportionately impacted, with negative effects persisting for several months after landfall.
The Natural Capital of the Elephant Hill Wildfire Area: Valuation of the ecosystem services affected by the 2017 Elephant Hill fire highlights pre-fire ecosystem services for Secwepemcúl'ecw Restoration and Stewardship Society communities. The 2017 fire resulted in losses of $500 million to nearly $1 billion annually in ecosystem services benefits.
In early 2023, Earth Economics conducted an ecosystem service valuation and jobs analysis of the Duckabush Estuary Restoration Project, a $120m infrastructure project, which will raise a causeway into a 1,600 foot full spanning bridge, reestablishing the estuary’s connection to neighboring floodplains and creating a corridor for marine and terrestrial wildlife. Earth Economics calculated the total value of the wetlands at $249.6 million ($75.4 million at a 3 percent discount rate) over the 100-year lifespan of the bridge. The valuation includes the additional 400,000 chum salmon population due to the improved nursery function of the estuary, valued at $30 million to $109 million to Puget Sound residents.
