Topic: biodiversity

MEDIA ADVISORY: Hope or Hype? WRI Experts Host Press Call on Rio+20 Summit

James Anderson — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:28:05 -0400

As leaders in government, business and civil society prepare to head to Rio de Janeiro for the UN Sustainable Development Summit, known as Rio+20, experts from the World Resources Institute will host a press call to discuss issues and expectations for the meeting.

WRI experts will discuss issues, including the green economy, governance, climate change, role of business, and more. WRI will provide an update on the state of play and on possible outcomes for the global summit.

Listen to the audio recording of WRI’s press call below:

WHAT:

Press call to discuss expectations for the Rio+20 Summit.

WHO:

Manish Bapna, Interim President, WRI

Craig Hanson, Director, People & Ecosystems Program, WRI

Lalanath de Silva, Director, The Access Initiative

Jennifer Morgan, Director, Climate & Energy Program, WRI

Followed by a Q&A session

WHEN:

Tuesday, May 22, 10:00a.m. EDT // 11:00a.m. BRT

CALL-IN:

United States (Toll free): (866) 803-2143

Brazil (Toll Free): 0800-8911992

Other international locations (Toll): +1 (210)795-1098

Passcode: Callers should ask for “RIO”

You can read more about WRI’s work at Rio +20 at: http://insights.wri.org/topic/rio20.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Michael Oko: Tel. + 1 (202) 729-7684; email: moko@wri.org; or

James Anderson: Tel. +1 (202) 729 7608; email: JAnderson@wri.org

Insights from the Field: Forests for Species and Habitat

Kevin Lustig — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:22:56 -0500

Summary

Market-based mechanisms focused on candidate species conservation, also known as pre-compliance conservation, can provide preemptive and cost-effective interventions prior to a species becoming listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
To advance candidate conservation incentive programs, the World Resources Institute (WRI) is working with its partners to build demand, supply, and transactional infrastructure through a pilot initiative in the nonfederally listed range of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) in the southern forests of the United States.
This innovative approach strives to create a scalable, voluntary, and science-based marketplace where conservation credits can be bought and sold prior to the enactment of a regulatory requirement, resulting in additional acres of southeastern forests being managed for habitat and species conservation.
Through this pilot initiative, landowners with southern pine forests capable of supporting healthy populations of the imperiled gopher tortoise can receive payments to conserve and manage their forests. These payments and stewardship activities are designed to offset habitat disturbance elsewhere and may help preclude the species from becoming listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA.
A candidate conservation marketplace may allow federal and private project developers to manage their environmental risk by investing in conservation on private lands in return for regulatory certainty from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). This process can help these stakeholders avoid the potential for costly project development delays and litigation since it front-loads much of the ESA review process and gives entities greater regulatory certainty.
Interest in candidate conservation incentive programs is rapidly growing in the private, public, and nongovernmental organization sectors as changes in land use across the country spark new challenges in balancing ecosystem management with residential and commercial development, national security, energy infrastructure, and climate change.

Global Map of Forest Landscape Restoration Opportunities

Maggie Barron — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:19:41 -0400

A New And Improved Map

This restoration opportunity map is a revised and improved version of a previous map (published in 2009 and revised in 2010). The boreal forest landscapes of the north are now included; differences in forest canopy cover are reflected in greater detail; the assessment of potential forest cover has been improved; and the analysis has been updated with more recent and higher resolution data.

The new map indicates a restoration opportunity twice as large as the old one. This is mainly because a more precise mapping of potential forest extent has increased the estimate of degraded lands with opportunities for restoration, not because something has changed in the real world.

Downloads

High Resolution Bitmap (PNG, 2200 x 1765 px, 3.2 Mb)
Brochure (PDF, 2.4 Mb) (includes map)

A World of Opportunity

Over the last several centuries, vast forest areas have been cleared as agriculture has spread and human populations have grown. About 30 percent of global forest cover has been completely cleared and a further 20 percent has been degraded. Breaking the spiral of loss and degradation and restoring these lands would bring many benefits.

Restored lands support livelihoods and biodiversity by supplying clean water, reducing erosion, providing wildlife habitat, biofuel, and other forest products. Forests and trees mitigate climate change by sequestering carbon. Trees in agricultural landscapes can enhance soil fertility, conserve soil moisture, and boost food production.

More than two billion hectares worldwide offer opportunities for restoration—an area larger than South America. Most of these lands are in tropical and temperate areas.

One and a half billion hectares would be best-suited for mosaic restoration, in which forests and trees are combined with other land uses, including agroforestry, smallholder agriculture, and settlements.
Up to about half a billion hectares would be suitable for wide-scale restoration of closed forests.
In addition to these two billion hectares, there are 200 million hectares of unpopulated lands, mainly in the far northern boreal forests, that have been degraded by fire. These areas would likely be difficult to restore due to their remoteness.

Croplands and densely populated rural areas on former forest lands amount to a further one billion hectares. They do not offer extensive restoration opportunities in terms of area, but some of these lands would benefit from having trees planted in strategic places to protect and enhance agricultural productivity and other ecosystem functions.

Restoration is possible. Most countries have suffered forest loss and degradation and have opportunities for restoration. Vast deforested areas in Europe and North America have regrown forests. South Korea and Costa Rica have embarked on successful forest restoration strategies. tries are slowing desertification and restoring woodlands with associated dramatic improvements in livelihoods and ecological health. Yet restoration opportunities are often overlooked.

Restoration of Forests and Landscapes

Forest and landscape restoration is about more than just trees. It goes beyond afforestation, reforestation, and ecological restoration to improve both human livelihoods and ecological integrity. Key characteristics include the following:

Local stakeholders are actively engaged in decision making, collaboration, and implementation.
Whole landscapes are restored, not just individual sites, so that trade-offs among conflicting interests can be made and minimized within a wider context.
Landscapes are restored and managed to provide for an agreed, balanced combination of ecosystem services and goods, not only for increased forest cover.
A wide range of restoration strategies are considered, from managed natural regeneration to tree planting.
Continuous monitoring, learning, and adaptation are central.

A restored landscape can accommodate a mosaic of land uses such as agriculture, protected reserves, ecological corridors, regenerating forests, well-managed plantations, agroforestry systems, and riparian plantings to protect waterways. Restoration must complement and enhance food production and not cause natural forests to be converted into plantations.

Conclusions

Many countries have suffered forest loss or degradation in the past. Opportunities for restoration are huge in terms of area and exist on all continents.

Many more countries can mitigate climate change through restoration than by avoiding additional deforestation and degradation.

Restoration and avoided deforestation are complementary and mutually supportive measures. Restoration opportunities tend to be located far away from the areas where ongoing deforestation is widespread and concentrated.

One of the most attractive features of forest and landscape restoration is its many benefits. The Convention on Biological Diversity has agreed on a target to restore 15 percent of degraded ecosystems by 2020. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change has adopted a decision that sets a goal for all countries to slow, halt, and reverse forest cover and carbon loss. Properly designed initiatives could bring benefits for biodiversity and climate while also improving people’s lives.

The Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration

The Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration is a worldwide network that unites governments, major UN and non-governmental organizations, companies, and individuals with a common cause. We believe that ideas transform landscapes. The partnership provides the information and tools to strengthen restoration efforts around the world and builds support for forest landscape restoration with decision-makers and opinion-formers, both at local and international levels.

Authors

Susan Minnemeyer (WRI)
Lars Laestadius (WRI)
Nigel Sizer (WRI)
Carole Saint-Laurent (IUCN)
Peter Potapov (South Dakota State University).

This map was supported by the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, building on work supported by Profor and the Forestry Commission of Great Britain. Review comments from the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre are gratefully acknowledged.

Sustainable Procurement of Wood and Paper-Based Products: Version 2

Ruth Nogueron — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 08:52:22 -0400

Find out more at http://www.sustainableforestprods.org

Version 2 contains updates to the sections on legality and useful resources, known as the "guide to the guides." The guide now describes 47 tools and resources (13 more than in the previous version) that aid sustainable procurement of forest products.

Decisions regarding the purchase and use of wood and paper-based products can have far-reaching, long-term impacts for the forests where they are harvested, the communities supported by wood-using industries, and the places where those products are purchased and used.

The information in this joint WRI/WBCSD publication is organized around ten key issues, posed as "essential questions" that procurement managers might address related to the sustainable procurement of wood and paper-based products:

Origin: Where do the products come from?
Information accuracy: Is information about the products credible?
Legality: Have the products been legally produced?
Sustainability: Have forests been sustainably managed?
Special places: Have special places, including sensitive ecosystems, been protected?
Climate change: Have climate issues been addressed?
Environmental protection: Have appropriate environmental controls been applied?
Recycled fiber: Has recycled fiber been used appropriately?
Other resources: Have other resources been used appropriately?
Local communities and indigenous peoples: Have the needs of local communities or indigenous peoples been addressed?

The publication is designed as an information tool to help customers develop their own sustainable procurement policies for wood and paper-based products. It is also a decision support tool providing simple and clear information on twenty-two existing approaches to the procurement of wood and paper-based products from legal and sustainable sources, as well as providing additional references and resource materials.

MEDIA ADVISORY: 4th Annual Ecosystem Markets Conference - Making Ecosystems Work

Lauren Zelin — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 14:18:28 -0400

Experts and innovators meet to chart the future of ecosystem conservation

The World Resources Institute (WRI) and the American Forest Foundation (AFF) co-host the 4th annual Ecosystem Markets Conference in Madison, Wisconsin, June 29 – July 1, 2011. Hundreds of experts, innovators, land owners, government officials, investors and academics will discuss how to make ecosystem markets work to conserve natural resources; followed by a field trip through Aldo Leopold’s backyard to see ecosystem services in action.

At a time when state and federal budgets for conservation are dwindling, ecosystems are being degraded and threats to natural resources are increasing, more market-driven solutions are necessary to open the next chapter in conservation. Through ecosystem markets, the many benefits that well-managed lands provide, such as clean water and wildlife habitat, are assigned a value that results in payments to landowners for providing these services. This win-win for the public and landowners is necessary to protect the planet’s natural resources.

The 2011 conference theme “Ecosystem Markets: Making Them Work” underscores the need for innovative thinking to bridge the gap between ecosystem market potential and reality. Participants will gather for two days of open-format meetings on topics including payments to landowners, policy and ethics, private investment, water quality, bioenergy, and more.

The conference will open with a video address by Harris Sherman, Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Senior representatives from the host organizations along with ecosystem services experts from around the world will participate in the conference and will be available for interviews.

What:
4th Annual Ecosystem Markets Conference. Website: http://ecomarketconference.com/

When:
June 29-30, 2011, conference sessions
July 1, 2011, field trip to working ecosystems and Aldo Leopold’s shack

Where:
The Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor’s Club
1 W. Dayton Street, Madison, WI
(Free parking is provided for our conference group)

Media Highlights:

Wednesday, June 29, 2011
* 8:15 a.m. – Welcome and video address by Harris Sherman, Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, U.S. Department of Agriculture
* 8:35 a.m. – Plenary Session 1: The Current State of Ecosystem Markets
* 10:20 a.m. – Plenary Session 2: Policies to Support Ecosystem Services and Markets
* 12:40 p.m. – Lunch and preview of Green Fire documentary, hosted by the Aldo Leopold Foundation and followed by a Q&A session

Friday, July 1, 2011
* 8:00 a.m. – Field trip; See below for details. * Experts available for interviews during the tour

For the full conference agenda, visit http://ecomarketconference.com/agenda/.

RSVP and Media Requests:

Amanda Cooke | AFF | ACooke@forestfoundation.org | 202-463-2731
Lauren Cole | WRI | LCole@wri.org | 202-729-7736

Follow the Twitter conversation - #ecomarkets2011

Field Trip Information - PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

What:
Tour the Leopold family shack and farm, and see sites conserved for ecosystem services through public/private partnerships, including the Leopold Waterfowl Production Area, Baraboo Oak Street dam removal site, and the Leopold Memorial Reserve constructed wetland. Detailed agenda: http://ecomarketconference.com/field-trip/.

When:
July 1, 2011 from 8:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Where:
Meet at the Madison Concourse Hotel for bus departure.

Who:
Experts from WRI, AFF and other conference attendees will be available for interviews and photo opportunities during the Field Trip. Please contact Amanda Cooke or Lauren Cole to RSVP.

Thanks to the Aldo Leopold Foundation and the Sand County Foundation for their generous assistance in hosting and organizing the field trip.

MEDIA ADVISORY: Ocean Inspiration and WRI Celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Lauren Zelin — Thu, 12 May 2011 15:12:44 -0400

May 18 event at Sea Grill is a tribute to Captain Cousteau and our fragile ocean world

Explorers, filmmakers, scientists, dancers, artists, musicians, and ocean advocates will come together for this once in a lifetime event: Ocean Inspiration. The event, hosted by Celine Cousteau, granddaughter of Jacques, will be held on Wednesday, May 18, at the Sea Grill in New York City.

When asked why she created this event, Celine Cousteau explained, “The best tribute that I can give my grandfather is to unite the people who have drawn inspiration from him, those who have an abiding respect for our oceans and are exemplary ocean advocates.”

The Ocean Inspiration reception, which begins at 6:30 p.m., will be emceed by NBC’s Amy Robach, Saturday anchor for the TODAY show. Experts from the World Resources Institute will present information about the Reefs at Risk initiative. Four individuals will be honored with Ocean Advocacy Awards, and the winners of the Captain Cousteau “100 Second Tribute” videos will be recognized. Additionally, Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of Jacques-Yves Cousteau, will preview a clip from his new film “My Father the Captain” for the first time in the United States.

Rounding out the event will be silent and live auctions, including a one-of-a-kind dress by Sophie Theallet worn by Jessica Alba, and an original piece choreographed and performed by Derek Stratton of Pilobolus dance company, with music by Henri ‘Scars’ Struck.

A portion of the proceeds benefit the World Resources Institute’s Reefs at Risk project. Sponsors of the event include: La Prairie, Contiki, Code Blue Foundation and NOAA-NMSF.

Ocean Inspiration is open to the media and the public. Visit: http://www.oceaninspiration.net to purchase tickets. (Note: the fee is waived for credentialed media)

WHAT:
Ocean Inspiration event celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Jacques Yves-Cousteau

WHO:
Celine Cousteau, other members of the Cousteau family, explorers, filmmakers, scientists, dancers, artists, musicians, and more

WHEN:
Wednesday, May 18, 2011

TIME:
Starting at 6:30pm

WHERE:
The Sea Grill, Rockefeller Plaza, 19 West 49th Street, New York City

RSVP:
http://www.wri.org/oceaninspiration

For more information or to set-up interviews, please contact: Lauren Cole, lcole@wri.org, (202) 729-7736

PRESS RELEASE: WRI Expands Capacity in International Forest and Ecosystems Work

Michael Oko — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:29:37 -0400

Two new leaders, Nigel Sizer and Robert Winterbottom, added to roster

Two international forest experts, with more than 45 years combined experience, have joined the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) People and Ecosystems Program. Dr. Nigel Sizer, who worked at WRI earlier in his career, returns to lead the Global Forest Initiative, overseeing efforts to increase the ability of governments, businesses and civil society to protect intact forest landscapes, sustainably manage working forests, and restore deforested lands. Robert Winterbottom, who also previously spent time at WRI, is now directing the Ecosystem Services Initiative, managing activities to reduce the degradation of ecosystems, and to invest in ecosystem services to secure economic growth and enhance people’s well being.

“We are thrilled to bring Nigel and Bob back to WRI— two extremely qualified experts with hands-on experience,” said Craig Hanson, director of WRI’s People and Ecosystem Program. “I look forward to working with them, as WRI expands its impact through our global forest and ecosystem services initiatives.”

Sizer comes to WRI from Rare, an international conservation organization, where he served as vice president for Asia. While at Rare, he expanded operations into China, and conceived and developed Community Carbon, a grassroots effort to link impoverished communities in Indonesia to global carbon markets. In 2008, he served as lead advisor on climate change and energy issues in Asia to former President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative. Sizer has also worked with UNEP in Nairobi, and established The Nature Conservancy’s Asia-Pacific Forest Program.

“I am delighted to be back at WRI, which has built an extraordinary reputation over the years,” said Sizer. “I really look forward to working with new colleagues and helping expand both our influence and impact in the world.”

Winterbottom comes to WRI with more than 25 years of experience on environment and sustainable development issues in dozens of countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia. In Bangladesh, he worked to scale up the collaborative management of wetlands and protected forests by building capacity at the grassroots level and among responsible government agencies. In eastern Senegal, he increased rural incomes by expanding community-based enterprises, together with improved land use planning and natural resource management. Winterbottom also supported efforts by Niger to strengthen property rights and policies to promote widespread adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and “regreening” of rural landscapes. Most recently, he led a team of experts in assessing needs and opportunities in Vietnam for climate change adaptation and restoration of ecosystem services in targeted watersheds.

“For many years, WRI has been at the forefront of helping governments and businesses understand the value of ecosystem services,” said Winterbottom. “I’m excited to be back at WRI to advance this groundbreaking work.”

MEDIA ADVISORY: "Reefs at Risk Revisited" Launch at National Press Club, Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Michael Oko — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:16:06 -0500

Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Administrator, NOAA, and leading experts discuss “Reefs at Risk Revisited” report findings and solutions.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new comprehensive analysis of the threats to coral reefs will be launched globally on Wednesday, February 23, 2011. More than 25 partners contributed to the report, and events will take place in Washington, D.C.; London, England; Malaysia; Australia; and other locations.

The D.C. event at the National Press Club will feature Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Administrator, NOAA; Jonathan Lash, President, WRI; Lauretta Burke, lead author, WRI; and Dr. Nancy Knowlton, Chair of Marine Science, Smithsonian Institution.

The groundbreaking report, “Reefs at Risk Revisited,” is the most detailed assessment of threats to coral reefs ever undertaken. Led by the World Resources Institute, along with the Nature Conservancy, the WorldFish Center, ICRAN, UNEP-WCMC, and GCRMN, it maps out local and global pressures on reefs; assesses the vulnerability of people in reef-dependent countries; and provides recommendations to safeguard reefs in the future.

WHAT:
“Reefs at Risk Revisited” launch event in Washington, D.C.

WHO:
Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Jonathan Lash, President, World Resources Institute
Lauretta Burke, Senior Associate and Lead Author, World Resources Institute
Dr. Nancy Knowlton, Sant Chair for Marine Science, Smithsonian Institution

WHEN:
Wednesday, February 23, 2011

TIME:
9:30 a.m. EST

WHERE:
National Press Club, Holeman Lounge 529 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20045

CALL-IN:
US/Toll Free: (888) 989-5157 or
Int’l: +1 (517) 308-9270
Passcode: REEFS

RSVP REQUIRED: press@wri.org

Light breakfast and coffee will be served.

Food for Thought

Jonathan Lash — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 11:49:39 -0500

We are on a collision course between ecosystems and food. How we resolve this issue over the coming years will be a key to preserving biodiversity and human well-being.

This piece originally appeared in Portuguese in the Brazilian newspaper Valor.

Looking around the world, global trends do not bode well for the Earth’s continued capacity to support improved human well-being. People are drawing down natural capital at an accelerating rate, and Nature doesn’t do bailouts.

As the head of an organization that focuses on the intersection of environment and human needs, I rely on analysis and data to guide policy recommendations and decision making. The message from the data is clear: we are not winning the fight for sustainability. One key indicator is the loss of biodiversity – in the oceans, grasslands, forests – everywhere in the world and in every kind of ecosystem. As these ecosystems decline, they produce less of the “services” – from clean water to carbon storage – on which human well-being depends.

We can, however, reverse this downward trend if we accept three key principles:

1. It’s About Food

What does food supply have to do with conserving natural systems? Everything. Growing or capturing food is a factor in all five leading pressures that cause the loss of the ecosystems upon which the world’s biodiversity depends: Habitat loss, overexploitation, pollution, invasive species, and climate change.

The findings of the United Nations’ Millennium Ecosystem Assessment bear this out.

Habitats: According the UN, approximately 43 percent of tropical and subtropical forests and 45 percent of temperate forests worldwide have been converted to croplands and rangelands. Even greater shares of natural grassland have been converted to grow food.
Overexploitation: 70 percent of global freshwater consumption is by agriculture. This constrains water supply for the 50 percent of the global population that lives in cities.
Invasive species: The introduction of non-native fish species for food has led to declines in native species in many parts of the world.
Pollution: Only a fraction of nitrogen applied as a fertilizer is typically used by plants; the rest ends up in inland waters and coastal systems, depleting oxygen and leaving dead zones where fish and shellfish cannot survive, and fisheries collapse.
Climate change: Agriculture directly contributes to around 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions (using 2005 data) and drives additional emissions through its role in deforestation.

Food production is an urgent human necessity, but if we are to preserve species and maintain Nature’s productive capacity, we need to find ways to grow food in a manner that does not exacerbate these pressures.

Over the next 40 years, our natural and human systems will face a huge challenge caused by the convergence of several trends that are already underway. The world’s population is hurtling toward 9 billion by 2050. Per capita income is rising and leading to more consumption that is higher on the food chain (namely more meat). This, in turn, means that it will take more land to feed each person. And, finally, this means that more natural ecosystems —- such as forests, wetlands, and grasslands – will be converted to farms and ranches to grow food.

In fact, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Secretary General, Jacques Diouf, demand for food will double in the next 40 years. We are on a collision course between ecosystems and food. How we resolve this issue over the coming years will be a key to preserving biodiversity and human well-being.

2. “More With Less For More”

The late CK Prahalad, a world leader in innovation and business strategy, came up with the phrase “More for Less For More.” What he meant is that we need to provide food and employment opportunities for more people. But the 21st century will likely be the era of human history when we reach the boundaries of Earth’s capacity. Thus, it is a time for strategies that produce more well-being while using less of Earth’s capacity. We need more wealth with less material for more people. This will be the key business and political challenge of our generation.

As this dynamic plays out, agribusiness has a big role to play. Over the coming decades, the innovations and practices of agribusiness—both large and small—hold the key to whether people and business will rise to this challenge.

There are many ideas about how agribusiness can be part of the solution. Here are three strategies to consider: First, increase productivity on existing farmland with proven technologies and best practices. Second, restore and utilize abandoned or “degraded” lands to reduce pressure on our forests, wetlands, and other natural ecosystems. Third, manage demand for food so that we become more efficient in using our food, and increase our reliance on different sources of protein.

3. Government Must Set the Conditions

Certainly, business has an essential role to play, but it’s not the only role. There have to be local, national, and international governmental policies that set the conditions and market signals that align corporate and individual decisions with sustaining the world’s ecosystem. These signals involve tax policy reforms, new regulatory frameworks, and innovative incentives. Global climate change is a good example of how governments around the world will need to provide clear signals so business can adapt and innovate to work within the constraints of our natural systems.

If the earth were a business, we would be on the verge of bankruptcy. If we used the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as our audit, our credit rating would be so low that no sensible financier would invest in planet earth. And yet, we don’t even have a CEO to hold accountable.

Thankfully, there are enough well-informed and capable people in the world across business, academia, and government to craft and implement a winning strategy. Strong leaders, stronger institutions and aligning incentives with sustaining ecosystems and the services they provide will be the keys to carry us forward. Brazil’s strengths and innovations make it a natural leader in the search for solutions. The world would benefit from Brazil’s leadership by example in tackling the challenges of providing for human needs and economic growth, while preserving biodiversity, knowing that there’s no bailout from Mother Nature.

Investing in Nature, for People’s Sake

Janet Ranganathan — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 18:06:25 -0500

Ecosystem services provide the link between nature and economic development. How can this approach guide more sustainable decisions?

The following has been adapted from Janet Ranganathan’s speech at the opening plenary of the ACES (A Community on Ecosystem Services) Conference at Gila River Indian Community, AZ on December 7, 2010.

Ecosystem services is still jostling to find its place in the crowded landscape of conceptual frameworks that seek to define sustainable development. Many, particularly international policymakers, conflate ecosystem services with payments or markets for ecosystem services. While payments and markets have their place, the real power of ecosystem services lies in its ability to provide an overarching framework for both ecosystems and economic development. In systematically making these links, an ecosystem services framing can inform decisions that are more likely to be sustainable for people and nature. Here are three broad applications:

1. Making the case for investing in ecosystems

Society has traditionally focused on how economic development impacts ecosystems. An ecosystem services framing enables decision-makers to understand how economic development goals depend on ecosystems – more specifically, on the 24 ecosystem services identified by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. In other words, it expands the focus from how to protect nature from economic development to how to invest in nature for development.

Decision-makers may not make the link between ecosystems and their economic development goals or they may take for granted the ecosystem services on which they depend. This is especially true for the less visible regulating ecosystem services that control natural processes such as climate, erosion, water flows, and natural hazards such as shoreline protection. (I am using “regulating” in this context to describe a biological phenomenon, not government policies or regulations.)

For example, the World Resources Institute and our partners in Belize conservatively estimated the value of coral reef and mangrove ecosystem services. We found that reef-driven tourism alone contributed 12 to 15 percent of Belize’s GDP. Their shoreline protection services were equivalent to another 20 percent of GDP in avoided damages. Our finding that ecosystem services underpinned a significant portion of the Belize’s GDP led the Prime Minister to approve new fishing restrictions. Furthermore, when the cargo ship Westerhaven ran aground on the Belize reef in January 2009, the government sued for damage. The suit was premised on the forgone economic contribution of the damaged reef’s ecosystem services to GDP. The ecosystem services damage suit was a first for Belize. In a landmark decision, the Belizean Supreme Court ruled in April 2010 that the ship’s owners must pay the government an unprecedented US$6 million in damages.

2. Improving management of trade-offs

Decision makers often unwittingly make ecosystem services trade-offs. When a farmer drains a wetland to increase crops, he decreases the water filtration and flood control services. The ecosystem services framing provides a systematic approach for identifying these kinds of tradeoffs and reaching agreements with all parties on how to best manage them.

In the 1990’s BC Hydro, a hydroelectric utility in British Columbia, found itself at odds with regulators and others who relied on the waterways for fishing, recreation, spiritual and cultural values, and as a source of freshwater. In response to growing tensions among users, BC Hydro launched a participatory water-use planning process to agree the operating parameters of its dam. The planning process was organized around ecosystem services even though they were not referred to in this way. A series of model-generated scenarios were developed to illustrate how each user of the ecosystem would be affected as the company altered two operating variables: reservoir level and river flow rate. One scenario might yield more power generation but fewer recreational opportunities and fewer fish. Another might yield the opposite. After several iterations of the model, the participants finally agreed on an option they could all accept. It became the operating plan for the dam, one that provided operational clarity and regulatory certainty. And it enabled BC Hydro to transcend the traditional regulatory silos that focus on single ecosystem services to forge an agreement on how to optimize multiple services.

3. Aligning policies and incentives to sustain ecosystem services

Traditionally ecosystems and their services have been carved up in separate academic disciplines (e.g., schools of agriculture, biology, fisheries and forestry), separate government agencies (e.g., Department of Agriculture, Fish and Wildlife, NOAA, Forest Service, Bureau of Reclamation) and separate laws and policies (Farm Bill, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act). The resulting silos of information, institutions, and policies and incentives hinder our ability to manage ecosystems whose services transcend political and regulatory boundaries.

An ecosystem services framing helps us see beyond these silos by identifying the ecosystem services dependencies and impacts of a given action or goal. It also provides a framework to think more systematically about the range of policies, incentives, institutions, and coordination mechanisms needed to sustain these services. These go beyond the often-cited payments for ecosystem services or economic valuation to include best management practices, land use zoning, establishment of areas to protect specific ecosystem services, and limits on practices that degrade services. Also important are markets and fiscal incentives—payments, taxes, subsidies and fees – that encourage actions that sustain ecosystem services.

The Future of Ecosystem Services

Let me end by highlighting where I think the action on ecosystem services may be in the years ahead.

Climate adaptation planning. An ecosystem services approach can bring rigor to climate adaptation planning. The physical impacts of climate change manifest themselves through alterations to the quantity, quality and timing of ecosystem services.
Strengthening the science-policy interface. The creation of a new Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) - the so called “IPCC for Nature” will improve the links between emerging scientific knowledge and policy action at the appropriate scales.
Integrating ecosystem services into existing decision support tools and regulatory/policies. Examples include: ISO 14001, Environmental Impact Assessment, Strategic Environmental Assessments, national economic indicators and NEPA analysis.
Restoration. In the last 50 years humans have degraded the majority of ecosystem services globally. Efforts to restore ecosystems have been limited and typically focus on restoring habitats for endangered species. An ecosystem service framing can help make the case for scaled up restoration of ecosystems to provide critical ecosystem services for people, while preserving the underlying biodiversity on which all ecosystem services depend.
Reconciling the tension between the biodiversity and ecosystem services focused communities. Biodiversity underpins ecosystem services. Both focuses are essential. They serve different audiences and objectives and must continue to play a critical role in influencing ecosystem management decisions.

The majority of ecosystem services are in decline around the globe. Demand for them is growing. We can no longer take their availability for granted. We need to urgently integrate considerations of ecosystem health in a systematic manner into the myriad of public and private decisions that depend upon or affect them. Ecosystem services provide an overarching framework for reconciling development and nature, and sustaining both. And in doing so, it helps us make a quantum leap forward on pursuing the elusive goal of sustainable development.

Q&A: World Bank Plan to Value Ecosystems

Janet Ranganathan — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:58:28 -0400

Last week at the UN Convention on Biodiversity, the World Bank launched a new program that aims to put a value on a country’s ecosystems in the same way a country measures its national income and product accounts, or GNP and GDP.

Note: This post was updated on November 4, 2010 to provide additional information.

In this Q&A, WRI’s Janet Ranganathan and John Talberth discuss why countries need to start measuring the value of nature and the benefits and challenges of setting up these so-called national ecosystem service accounts.

What are ecosystem services?

Ecosystem services are the benefits that nature provides to people. Food, freshwater, timber and cotton for clothes are some of the most familiar and visible services. But there are other types of unseen services that we often take for granted, for example the ability of forests to sequester carbon and mitigate climate change and the way in which wetlands filter and purify water.

What are national ecosystem service accounts and why are they needed?

More Information

Conventional measurements of national economic performance, such as Gross Domestic Product and Standard National Accounts, do a poor job of tracking stocks and flows of ecosystems and their services. A country can cut down its forests, drain its wetlands and pollute its water sources and none of this shows up in the national accounting system. There is therefore little incentive for better management of precious natural resources.

By giving these assets a value and including them in the national accounts, the hope is that what gets measured will get managed. Current macroeconomic decisions largely fail to account for natural assets, leading to decisions that degrade ecosystems.

Properly accounting for natural capital stocks and ecosystem service flows is one of the lynchpins of sustainable development. All economic activity depends on the quantity and quality of underlying capital. Capital takes four basic forms: built, social, human, and natural. By maintaining our capital stocks in good condition we insure that future generations will be at least as well off as we are today. Ecosystem service accounts help advance this goal with respect to natural capital.

These new accounts will also raise awareness about the value of a country’s natural assets and increase public support for decisions that are better for people and nature.

What is the connection between ecosystem services and economic development?

Economic development and ecosystem services are intertwined. We can’t really deal with one without dealing with the other. Unfortunately, the current mindset of society is to put economic development and nature in separate boxes, overseen by separate government agencies and separate academic disciplines. We think that protecting the environment is an impediment to development. We view it as a cost. Thinking about the environment in terms of ecosystem services can transform that mindset and help us see and value the environment as a series of assets or benefits that development in fact depends upon. By including ecosystems as assets alongside capital, labor and other commonly measured units in national accounts, governments will hopefully spur economic growth while sustaining or even growing natural assets.

A country can cut down its forests, drain its wetlands and pollute its water sources and none of this shows up in the national accounting system. There is therefore little incentive for better management of precious natural resources.

What are some of the challenges of creating national ecosystem service accounts?

Architects of green accounts must grapple with three measurement challenges: how to define standardized units, how to measure physical quantities and how to assign values. None of these tasks are easy. Unlike conventional accounts that track the value of goods sold (such as houses, cars, and food) many ecosystem services are not traded so the unit of measurement is not always obvious. Consider the ecosystem service of pollination. Should economists assume it is already captured in agriculture products sold or should they use a proxy, such as the number of pollinators or pollinations?

If the accounts are to be integrated into existing national income accounts, then double counting must be avoided. The chosen measurement units must also be quantifiable at the national level.

Fortunately, economists have at their disposal a wide range of peer reviewed methods for doing so. While the field of ecosystem service valuation is quite new and still evolving, it nevertheless has progressed to the point where it can be demonstrated at a larger scale as indicated by the UNEP recent report on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity. The pros and cons of various valuation approaches will need to be carefully weighed to avoid under or over valuing services and risking the credibility of the entire effort.

Will this solve the ecosystem degradation problem?

National ecosystem accounts are a good start. But putting a value on ecosystem services at the national level will not guarantee changes in the way ecosystems are managed in the myriad of sub-national decisions that determine their fate. For example, creating aquacultures versus conserving mangroves; building levies and dams versus sustaining wetlands; creating palm oil plantations in place of tropical rainforest. This will require stronger governance systems, policies that protect ecosystems, reforming subsidy programs, eliminating perverse incentives and the use of other incentives to sustain rather than degrade ecosystems.

A recent WRI report, Banking on Nature’s Assets guides policymakers on how to determine priority ecosystem services and then select the most effective policies for sustaining them depending on a country’s capacity and existing laws and policies.

Are any countries already doing this?

A number of efforts are underway to create national indicators of ecosystem health. The UK is conducting a National Ecosystem Assessment of the country’s natural environment in terms of the benefits it provides to society. The results of this could be integrated into national accounts. Emerging initiatives at the global, regional, and national scale are road testing ways to incorporate valuation of natural, built, human, and social capital into measures of national well being and economic sustainability that can be reported side by side with traditional measures such as GDP. Most of these initiatives address natural capital and ecosystem service flows. For example, the U.S. Genuine Progress Indicator includes costs of depleting old growth forests, wetlands, and farmlands in its sustainable economic welfare calculations. The European Commission, United Nations and others are exploring ways to define complementary indicators for GDP that address sustainable development.

What should the World Bank do in its own operations to take into account ecosystems?

In addition to helping countries account for the value of natural assets, the World Bank itself is well positioned to systematically integrate ecosystem risks and opportunities into its own operations. Banking on Nature’s Assets identifies entry points for mainstreaming ecosystem services into the World Bank’s core operations. These range from country assistance strategies and environmental analysis to sector work and development policy loans. The report also presents a range of tools and policy options that the Bank can use to help country partners sustain their precious capital. It concludes with recommendations for scaling up the use of an ecosystem service approach in the World Bank and other MDB’s operations. Eventually, valuation of ecosystem services should become a routine practice in formal benefit-cost analysis of all MDB policies, program, and projects.

Biodiversity Summit Must Tackle Destructive Impacts of Food Production

Janet Ranganathan — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:08:44 -0400

Nagoya delegates need to plan how the world achieves food security, before ecosystems reach critical tipping points.

This piece originally appeared on the Guardian website.

Governments from around the world will arrive in Nagoya, Japan next week for the high level ministerial segment of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting. Their task is daunting. Even the modest target set in 2002 of reducing the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 has proved beyond reach using current strategies. But rather than wringing their hands over the tide of species losses that has swept the planet, delegates should turn their attention to the root cause of the problem: the ways in which we meet our need for food.

What does food supply have to do with conserving species? Everything. It is a leading factor in the five principal pressures causing biodiversity loss: habitat change, overexploitation, invasive species, pollution, and climate change (see Box).

Food Production: Key Culprit in Biodiversity Loss

Habitat conversion: Approximately 43% of tropical and subtropical forests and 45% of temperate forests have been converted to croplands.
Over exploitation: 70% of global freshwater use is by agriculture.
Invasive species: The introduction of aquatic alien fish species has led to the extinction of native species in many parts of the world.
Pollution: Only a fraction of nitrogen applied as a fertilizer is typically used by plants, the rest ends up in inland waters and coastal systems, creating eutrophication and dead zones.
Climate Change: Agriculture directly contributed to around 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2005 and drives additional emissions through its role in deforestation.

Sources: IPCC 4th Assessment Report, 2007; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment General Synthesis; and “World Greenhouse Gas Emissions in 2005,” World Resources Institute.

Ironically, while producing food relies on harvesting nature’s bounty, food production often degrades the very ecosystems it depends on. The Brazilian Amazon, for example, provides critical water and climate regulation services that the region’s agricultural sector depends upon for its survival. Yet one fifth of the Brazilian Amazon has been deforested, primarily by farmers, and ranchers.

The Policymaker’s Paradox

Delegates at the conference face a paradox. Dramatic increases in food production over the past 50 years have supported significant improvements in human wellbeing, but at the same time have diminished Earth’s diversity and capacity to provide ecosystem services (including fish, food, freshwater, pollination, and water regulation). Scientists worry that this results from a time lag between the degradation of ecosystems and the resulting effects on human well-being.

The Amazon, for example, could reach a tipping point due to deforestation beyond which it experiences widespread dieback and transitions into savanna-like vegetation. The reductions in rainfall would devastate efforts to raise crops and cattle in the region.

Upping the challenge, population growth and rising per capita incomes are expected to double the demand for food in the next 40 years, according to the UN’s food and agriculture chief, Jacques Diouf. To devise a successful new strategy to preserve the diversity of life on Earth, the CBD needs to take a quantum leap in its partnership with food producers, to change how the world achieves food security, before ecosystems reach critical tipping points in the face of ever growing demands for food and climate change.

Implications for the 2020 Global Biodiversity Strategy

The new 2020 global biodiversity strategy under discussion at Nagoya must focus first and foremost on reducing the pressure of food production on biodiversity and ecosystems. This will also help maintain the resilience of ecosystems and prevent dangerous tipping points from occurring. To achieve this food security experts need to work alongside agriculturists and biologists to maximize use of existing land for food and minimize further ecosystem loss. Three key strategies can help meet this goal:

Restore degraded lands
Globally, over one billion hectares of land is believed to have restoration potential. Restoring even a small part of this for food production would help reduce pressure on natural ecosystems. In Indonesia, for example, the World Resources Institute is seeking to develop a scalable model for diverting new oil palm plantations that would otherwise replace virgin forests on to degraded land. Similar opportunities exist to divert the expansion of cattle ranches from the Amazon’s forests to degraded lands.

Increase productivity on existing farmland
While intensification doesn’t immediately come to mind when thinking about conservation, it is nevertheless a key strategy to reduce stress on natural ecosystems. The challenge is to find ways to get more food out of land without the unwanted consequences such as ecosystem services trade-offs that have dogged current intensive production systems. We need to deploy proven technologies that use ecosystem services much more efficiently such as new varieties of seeds, drip irrigation, integrated pest management and conservation agriculture. At the same time, we must make major investments in further innovation and a new generation of technologies.

Manage demand for food
Opportunities for managing demand for food include promoting the use of vegetable protein over meat, reducing food waste - estimated to be around 40% of food produced in the United States - and advancing certification programs and other types of incentives for sustainable food production. Fairtrade is paying Afghan farmers, for example, almost double the going rate for providing raisins that meet environmental criteria such as the sustainable use of water – and making a viable business of it.

The proposed 2011-2020 strategic plan that ministers will be discussing in Nagoya does include some targets to address the destructive impacts of food production such as reducing pollution from nutrient runoff and promoting sustainable farm management. But a much greater and more holistic effort is needed. Too much of the strategy takes a “remove-the-impacts” approach, a sure recipe for repeating the disappointment of not meeting the 2010 targets to reduce biodiversity loss.

If, by 2050, the world celebrates success in providing food security and in navigating ecological tipping points, it will be because of the ingenuity of farmers and conservationists, agricultural experts and ecologists in finding ways of learning and acting together. COP10 delegates can play a role in stimulating that action by ensuring the new 2020 targets tackle the hungry elephant in the conservation room - how to double food production while protecting ecosystems.

Frances Irwin is a former Fellow in the Institutions and Governance Program at the World Resources Institute.

COP-10 Provides Opportunity to Recognize Biodiversity at Home

Logan Yonavjak — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 09:36:22 -0400

To celebrate biodiversity, look no further than the forests of the Southern United States.

This piece originally appeared on the Southern Forests for the Future website.

From October 18th to 29th, 2010, heads of state and government officials from the United Nations’ 192-member states will hold the 10th international meeting devoted to the promotion and protection of global biodiversity. Their aim at this Conference of the Parties (COP-10) is to adopt a new strategic plan to stop worldwide biodiversity loss over the next ten years, with targets for 2020 and a new biodiversity vision for 2050. This meeting is in conjunction with the first ever International Year of Biodiversity, as declared by the United Nations, where the world is invited to take action to safeguard the variety of life on earth.

Many people know of the Amazon rainforest or the forests of Indonesia as centers of biodiversity, boasting colorful, endemic plants and animals, and what seems like a new species discovery every day. Yet the United States is also a center of biodiversity, especially the forests of the South.

The World Resources Institute has created a unique, user-friendly website, www.SeeSouthernForests.org, that uses historic and current satellite images, photographs, data, history and news to illustrate themes such as suburbanization, forest cover and composition, drought conditions, tree species, and recent fires. The website aims to catalyze greater sustainable stewardship of southern U.S. forests.

Southern forests, stretching from Texas to Virginia and from Kentucky to Florida, are among the most biologically diverse temperate forests in the world, supporting 3,000 species of plants, 595 species of birds, and 246 species of mammals. However, without more effective management and increased habitat protection, many species within these forests are under threat and at risk of extinction.

Biodiversity and Healthy Forests

Forests are the dominant natural ecosystem in the South. They cover approximately 214 million acres, comprising 40 percent of the South’s land area and 29 percent of total forestland in the United States.

Forests provide habitat for thousands of different forest-adapted and forest-dependent species. In fact, within North America, southern U.S. forests are centers of biodiversity not only for trees, but for amphibians and reptiles as well. For these classes, the South hosts a high concentration of “species richness” – the number of species in a given area—and “species endemism” — the number of unique species found in a specific area and nowhere else. These species are critical to maintaining the health and resilience of these forest ecosystems.

Home to 170 amphibian and 197 reptile species, southern forest ecosystems are a center of amphibian and reptile diversity in North America.

Southern forests and their environs support 3,000 species of plants, 595 species of birds, and 246 species of mammals.

Biodiversity of Southern Forests Benefits People by Supporting Critical Ecosystem Services

“Biodiversity has been the foundation for the world’s economy since the origin of human civilization,” says Tim Killeen of Conservation International. The southern United States is no exception. Biodiversity in the South underpins a critical supply of ecosystem services — the benefits that people derive from nature — which people across the United States and around the world depend upon. Examples of these ecosystem services include:

Lumber and plywood for construction, veneer for furniture, pulpwood for paper, and biomass fuel for industry and home heating
Water purification, erosion protection, and climate regulation
Food, medicinal plants, and other essentials harvested from forests
Places for people to hike, camp, fish, hunt, and experience natural beauty

Threats to Biodiversity

While the southern United States currently supports an impressive number of species, pressures from both natural and human sources threaten to reduce biodiversity in the region. Some of the greatest threats to biodiversity in the southern United States include: forest conversion to development, climate change, invasive species, and unsustainable forest management.

Forest Conversion

Of the original 350 million acres of southern forests that blanketed the region before European settlement, 40 percent has already been converted for agriculture or lost to suburbanization or surface mining. Suburbanization alone will result in more than 12 million acres of forest being cleared or impacted between 1992 and 2020, with another 19 million acres between 2020 and 2040. This development will result in a substantial amount of permanent forest conversion and fragmentation, which will negatively affect biodiversity in the region.

Climate Change

Many forest species have adapted to specific climatic conditions, and as Earth’s climate changes during the 21st century and beyond, southern forest species may be forced to change as well. Although implications for specific locations are difficult to predict, climate change may have a variety of impacts on southern forests, including:

The natural range of certain plant and animal species may shift. For instance, species conditioned to cooler climates, such as spruces, may retreat northward and/or to higher altitudes. As species ranges shift, parks and protected areas could be less able to serve as refuges for some types of plant and animals.
Some coastal forests, such as the low-lying cypress swamps in Louisiana, may decline in extent and health due to an increase in inundation and saltwater intrusion as sea levels rise.
Forest species composition may change if drought-sensitive species decline in number or become more susceptible to pests and pathogens.

Invasive Species

Kudzu, known as “the vine that ate the South,” is an invasive species that smothers vegetation. It is very difficult and expensive to remove once established.

Southern forests are under threat from biological invasions of alien species. Over the past hundred years, global economic growth has opened new and varied pathways for invasive species to establish and spread in new ecosystems. These biological invasions can result in significant economic losses. According to one estimate, overall damage and control costs associated with invasive species in the United States are estimated at more than U.S. $138 billion annually. Biological invasions by alien species also decrease biological diversity and inhibit critical ecosystem functioning. For example, in the early 20th century, chestnut blight decimated the American chestnut population, bringing the species, which at one time made up one-fourth of the eastern U.S. hardwood tree population, to the brink of extinction.

Nonnative, invasive plants also threaten native species in the South. For instance, kudzu, “the vine that ate the South,” was introduced to provide attractive ground cover and control rampant soil erosion caused by poor farming and forestry practices. Kudzu grows at a prodigious rate and can climb over trees, smothering all vegetation below its thick canopy of foliage. Like most invasive plants, it is very difficult and expensive to remove once established.

Unsustainable Forest Management Practices

Another serious threat to biodiversity can come from unsustainable management of southern forests. To the degree that intensive forestry techniques, such as short rotation clear-cutting, mono-culture tree plantations and the overuse of chemical herbicides, encroach on the region’s natural forests, forest composition could change drastically, which could have a negative effect on biodiversity.

The Alabama map turtle is found in large portions of Alabama and Mississippi, as well as small areas of Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida. Photo credit: flickr/stewartwildlife

Protecting Biodiversity in the South

At the COP-10 conference, government leaders from around the world will set targets for biodiversity protection over the coming decades. As part of this effort, citizens and government officials in the United States ought to recognize that industrialized communities are not immune to the threats of biodiversity loss and associated impacts on ecosystem services. The forest ecosystems of the U.S. South are a center of biodiversity. Therefore, enhancing the protection and sustainable management of these forests can help ensure the security and restoration of the region’s biodiversity, as well as the suite of ecosystem services that it supports.

The World Resources Institute (WRI) is working to help ensure southern forests and their biodiversity are protected for future generations. In addition to WRI’s newly released web-based mapping tool that visually demonstrates the major trends and threats to southern U.S. forests, WRI is currently analyzing a number of financial mechanisms to incentivize greater private forestland conservation and sustainable management so that it becomes more economically feasible to retain forestland throughout the region. For more information, visit www.SeeSouthernForests.org.

Time is Right for Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Janet Ranganathan — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:25:48 -0400

This week, governments will meet in Korea to decide whether to establish an intergovernmental panel on biodiversity services.

A version of this post originally appeared in The Guardian and on The Huffington Post.

Though it is easy to forget in the city-centered 21st century, human well-being is utterly dependent on the natural world. To state the obvious, we cannot survive without fresh water, food, and fuel. Yet every day, countless decisions are made whose ripple effects will degrade or destroy the vital goods and services that nature provides to people.

Asian forests are cleared to boost timber exports leading to erosion and landslides and the release of stored carbon that fuels climate change. Over-grazing by goats reared to meet overseas demand for cashmere clothing degrades grasslands in Mongolia. Intensification of farming practices in northeastern France has led to reduction of pastures and forests that had filtered water, threatening the purity of the mineral water which supplies Vittel’s global business.

Unlike the impacts of climate change, biodiversity and the ecosystem services it harbors disappear in a mostly silent, local and anonymous fashion. This may explain, in part, why the devastation of nature has triggered fewer alarm bells than a warming planet. Once felled, dug up, polluted or filled in, however, such complex systems as rainforests, wetlands, coastal estuaries and mangroves are very difficult to restore.

If the true value of ecosystems services – economic, social and spiritual - were factored into decision-making, wetlands, forests, and reefs would be viewed and treated very differently. For there is mounting evidence to show that the value of preserving ecosystems can far outweigh that of destroying them. Some companies – although too few of them – are also becoming aware that factoring biodiversity into their policies is important to their survival. The above-mentioned Vittel, for example, has launched a project to preserve water quality through the management of ecosystems and farmlands.

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity project (TEEB) , part of the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Green Economy Initiative, has compiled a database of more than 1,000 examples showing a high ratio of economic benefits to the costs of conserving ecosystems and biodiversity. In Vietnam, to give just one illustration, planting and protecting nearly 12,000 hectares of coastal mangroves cost US$1.1m but saved the government $7.3m annually on dike maintenance. Environmental NGOs including the World Resources Institute are also developing information and tools to make nature’s services visible for decision makers, including business risk assessment, valuation, mapping, and indicators.

Decision-makers lack the necessary information to accurately weigh the trade-offs among ecosystem services that stem from development choices, or the resulting consequences for people.

Unfortunately, government officials, local planning authorities, international development banks, corporations and a myriad other decision makers rarely have access to such data and tools. As a result, they lack the necessary information to weigh accurately either the trade-offs among ecosystem services that stem from development choices, or the resulting consequences for people. And every day the world’s ecosystems, and the essential life support services they provide us, are further degraded by human activity.

If we are to preserve the world’s dwindling natural assets, accounting for ecosystem services must become second nature for decision makers. Just as they now weigh up economic and social factors, decision makers at every level of government and business should be able to answer the following three questions:

What ecosystem services do I depend upon?
How will my decision affect ecosystem services?
What is the condition of these services and how will this create risks and opportunities for me?

This may sound like a tall order given that the phrase “ecosystem services” is not even part of most policy makers’ lexicons. But urgently needed help may be on the way.

A proposal for a new body, modelled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is in the making. This week, governments from all regions of the world will meet in Busan, Republic of Korea, to decide on whether to establish a new Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. The effort is championed by France and Japan – whose leaders have made it a personal priority – and strongly supported by environmental and conservation groups, including the World Resources Institute.

The new panel would provide a long overdue forum in which scientists engaged in research on biodiversity and ecosystem services and their links to economics and human well-being can provide policy makers and other stakeholders with the independent, authoritative, peer-reviewed scientific information needed to promote more sustainable, nature-friendly development. The panel would provide regular assessments of the condition of, and trends in, biodiversity and ecosystem services, and develop a common terminology and indicators. It could also organize information by biome, enabling research and exchange between scientists and policymakers for ecosystems such as grasslands, mangroves, woodlands, or deserts. Such a panel could also improve knowledge on the links between climate change and ecosystem change, and facilitate sharing of ecosystem management and climate change adaptation strategies.

The panel must bridge the institutionally divided worlds of environment and development. The information it generates must serve the decision-making needs of national ministries of finance, planning, agriculture, forests, fisheries and energy.

To be truly effective, however, the panel must bridge the institutionally divided worlds of environment and development. Rather than just preaching to the converted (environment ministries), the information it generates must serve the decision making needs of national ministries of finance, planning, agriculture, forests, fisheries and energy. In France, the ministry of environment is also that of energy, transport, and the sea. But in times of economic crisis, issues such as biodiversity conservation may be put aside, even where environmental ministries have a broader scope. The fate of ecosystems, therefore, does not lie primarily in the hands of the environmental ministries who will be at the table in Busan. Rather it is the world’s finance and development ministries who must learn, and act on, the lesson that mounting devastation of ecosystem services jeopardizes economic development goals.

How to ensure cross-governmental participation and buy-in is therefore the key question for countries gathering at Busan. The future health of the natural world, and humanity’s wellbeing, may depend upon it.

Chantal Jouanno is secretary of ecology at the French Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea. Janet Ranganathan is vice president of science and research at the World Resources Institute.

Biological Diversity, Development, and Poverty Alleviation

Maggie Barron — Fri, 21 May 2010 11:27:07 -0400

The International Day for Biological Diversity highlights the need to manage ecosystems to fight poverty.

May 22 is the International Day for Biological Diversity, part of an entire year of celebration. This year’s theme, “Biodiversity, Development, and Poverty Alleviation,” highlights the critical roles that biodiversity and ecosystems play in human livelihoods around the world. With new species (and new threats) discovered every day, now is a critical time to protect the vast array of life on Earth for nature’s, and for people’s sake.

Through our work, WRI aims to reduce poverty and encourage effective ecosystem stewardship. In our Ecosystem Services for Development project, we help developing countries and multilateral development banks (MDBs) understand the interactions between ecosystem services, people, and poverty.

Below are some useful resources:

Publications

World Resources 2005 – The Wealth of the Poor: Managing Ecosystems to Fight Poverty

World Resources 2008 – Roots of Resilience: Growing the Wealth of the Poor

Banking on Nature’s Assets: How Multilateral Development Banks Can Strengthen Development by Using Ecosystem Services

Mapping: WRI has helped Kenya and Uganda develop maps that will allow them to reduce poverty through better management of the countries’ ecosystems:

Nature’s Benefits in Kenya: An Atlas of Ecosystems and Human Well-Being

Mapping a Better Future: How Spatial Analysis Can Benefit Wetlands and Reduce Poverty in Uganda

Mapping a Healthier Future: How Spatial Analysis Can Guide Pro-Poor Water and Sanitation Planning in Uganda

Commentary

Shattering Glass Walls at the Multilateral Development Banks by Janet Ranganathan: Investing in ecosystem services will help MDBs improve the livelihoods of the poor.

Promoting Development, Protecting Environment by Janet Ranganathan: MDBs can and should integrate nature’s ecosystem services into their planning and decisions.

Growing the Wealth of the World’s Poor by Jonathan Lash: The food crises of the present will seem as nothing to those of the future unless the world brings some urgency and intelligence to managing the planet’s nature-based assets.

Data

Visit our sister site Earthtrends for a wealth of statistics on current environmental, social, and economic trends in more than 150 countries.