Glen Delaney and Carson Risner recently presented to the Green Infrastructure Federal Collaborative, a quarterly gathering of federal agency staff and mid-level managers who are experts on green infrastructure and larger nature-based solutions. They shared examples where benefits have been quantified to encourage investments in nature-based solutions:
Ongoing support to incorporate the benefits of nature-based solutions into FEMA’s Benefit-Cost Analysis Toolkit, part of the Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant process.
Valuing the ecosystem goods and services supported by the Duckabush Estuary Restoration Project, including larger salmon populations enabled by habitat improvements. This expanded the project’s total benefits from $15M (largely flood control) to $75M, against project costs of $120M.
Estimating the value of Green Compass’ green stormwater infrastructure projects in the Washington, DC Stormwater Retention Credit Trading Program. When fully established, seven sites will provide $1.3M in benefits to local communities every year, returning $7.80 in value for every dollar invested.
In February, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget released guidance to agencies on accounting for ecosystem services in benefit-cost analysis. Federal agencies can use ecosystem services valuation to support:
Decision making—expanding benefit-cost analyses to include nature’s benefits underscores the benefits (and often lower costs) of nature-based solutions.
Measuring success—by assessing project performance in broader terms that include co-benefits and greater community resilience.
Return on Investment—linking ecosystem goods and services to federal budgets demonstrates to legislators that nature-based solutions are wise investments.
Landscape-scale engagement—using ecosystem services valuation as a means of communicating with Tribes, state and local governments, and both national and local nonprofit organizations.
Our efforts to support federal agencies through the science-based valuation of ecosystem goods and services, and to promote deployment of nature-based solutions is funded by the Kresge Foundation.
“Communities across the country are investing in green infrastructure because they recognize the multiple benefits of these nature-based solutions. Quantifying the economic value associated with the healthier outcomes that nature provides is not an easy task, but working with experts who can demonstrate that value is helping make the case - nature is worth the investment. ”
EARTH ECONOMICS AND FEMA
FEMA defines ecosystem services as “direct or indirect contributions that ecosystems make to the environment and human populations,” reducing disaster risk through water infiltration, erosion control, improved air quality, and more, while also benefiting local ecosystems and nearby and downstream communities.
2013
LANDCOVERs: 2 | VALUES: 17
FEMA issued its first ecosystem services policy (FP-108-024-01), allowing the use of ecosystem service benefits in acquisition projects that demonstrate a benefit-cost ratio of 0.75 or greater. Earth Economics developed the framework and ecosystem service values for riparian and green open space landcover categories in the BCA Toolkit.
2016
LANDCOVERs: 5 | VALUES: 29
Earth Economics developed ecosystem services values for three new land cover categories (wetlands, forest, and marine and estuary) and updated values for landcover categories already in the BCA Toolkit. FEMA expanded eligibility to the following activities: floodplain and stream restoration, green infrastructure, post-wildfire mitigation, and aquifer storage and recovery.
2020
LANDCOVERs: 5 | VALUES 29
FEMA released a significant policy update (FP-108-024-02), removing the 0.75 benefit-cost ratio threshold requirement for inclusion of ecosystem services values in a benefit-cost analysis. The meant that nature-based hazard mitigation projects could now be considered cost-effective based on the balance of project costs and ecosystem services benefits alone.
2022
LANDCOVERs: 9 | VALUES: 59
Earth Economics supported a third update to the BCA Toolkit values, including new landcovers (coral reefs, shellfish reefs, and beaches and dunes), reorganizing prior landcovers into green open space and inland and coastal wetlands, added 22 new individual ecosystem services across all land cover types, increasing the value of benefits provided by many landcover types.
GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE TYPES: 4 | VALUES: 23
Earth Economics worked with FEMA to include nine economic benefits for four green infrastructure types (street trees, pervious pavement, bioretention, and green roofs).
