True to our mission
Grounded in our mission, we at Earth Economics work to quantify and value the benefits nature provides. By better understanding these benefits, communities are able to make effective, long-term decisions that balance nature with economic development, while protecting important community resources like open spaces, farmland, trails, and watersheds.
For over twenty years we have delivered projects, workshops, and presentations across the United States and on six continents, including work in marine conservation, sustainable agriculture practices, disaster mitigation and recovery, implementation of nature-based solutions, and outdoor recreation valuations.
Investing in nature
In 2019, we deepened the scope of our work and impact in three key areas: recreation, working lands, and resilient communities. We forged partnerships with new organizations to tackle numerous projects to help communities and organizations incorporate nature-based solutions in planning and improvements.
Recreation
The Whales in Our Waters: The Economic Contribution of Whale Watching in San Juan County
The Southern Resident Killer Whale is a flagship species, a cultural icon, and an economic driver for Washington State, yet orcas are increasingly at risk of extinction in spite of recovery efforts. Our economic contribution analysis of whale watching in San Juan County assessed the value of whale watching and the projected impact of population collapse, finding both significant value and significant estimated losses in the event of collapse. Whale watching supports over $216 million in yearly economic activity, generates over $12 million in annual tax revenue, and supports more than 1,800 jobs. Learn more.
Working Lands
Increasing Asset Value Through Ecosystem Services: A Case Study Prepared for Agricultural Capital
Agricultural Capital is a regenerative agriculture and food investment firm that seeks to increase access to better, healthier food while improving the land and communities in which they operate. Earth Economics was honored to contribute to their 2019 Impact Report with an assessment of the ecosystem service value of regenerative practices on blueberry farms, focusing on soil improvements. A switch to regenerative management tactics has the potential to increase ecological health and generate ecosystem services value through improved air and water quality, habitat, climate stability, and more. In the assessed case, these management changes could generate over $3 million in ecosystem service value over the next 10 years. Learn more.
Resilient Communities
Potential Environmental and Social Costs of the Magic City Innovation District
Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood is slated for a development project that would attract investment and benefits for new residents and businesses, but there is also growing concern about the project’s environmental impacts and the potential for economic displacement of long-time residents, who are mainly low-income families of color. The Community Justice Project had Earth Economics assess the household-level costs of displacement for Little Haiti’s vulnerable households, and we outlined the environmental, economic, and social costs in a report and fact sheet. Learn more.
Hale Parkway: Economic Assessment
Increasingly, communities are looking to nature-based solutions to improve community benefits. In Denver, Colorado, planners identified Hale Parkway as a promising project site, requesting Earth Economics’ expertise to assess the dollar value of ecosystem services benefits that could result from nature-based improvements. Converting pavement to vegetated green space has the potential to add millions in value each year, with the benefits over a 50-year period topping $61 million. Learn more.
2019 Financials
Earth Economics is shifting how we value nature - it is not an amenity, it is the foundation on which healthy communities and economies are built.
Thank you for your continued support.
