Ecosystem Services, Markets, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Ecosystem Services Concept Benefits obtained from ecosystems can be viewed as “natural capital.” What are The notion of ecosystems providing important services is not new. However, assigning ecological, socio‐cultural, and economic values to ecosystem services is causing us to Ecosystem think differently about conservation. For example, quantifying ecosystem services as “natural capital” creates innovative financial incentives for conservation . Striking a Services? balance between ecology and economy promises to provide practical ways to link the environment and people, and lead us toward more sustainable solutions. The many natural ways that biodiversity sustains and Market‐Based Approach fulfills life. Nearly $1 billion changed hands in global ecosystem markets in the last decade. An ecosystem services market is an organizational structure for buying and selling units of environmental benefit called credits. These markets provide an essential link between Provisioning Services the people who are willing to pay for actions that improve the environment and the food people who can put conservation actions on the ground. Water quality, carbon, fuel wetlands, and protected species’ habitat are examples of actively traded services. medicine Assigning economic value to these services is creating a shift in how society looks at sustainability, social responsibility, and business opportunities. Regulating Services pollination water quality Role of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service climate regulation Environmental markets and incentive programs can support the Service’s mission. In 2007, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Service, NRCS, and AFWA was Cultural Services developed to explore how establishing viable markets for the exchange of habitat values recreation would result in net conservation benefits for protected or at‐risk species. Emerging education markets and traditional incentive programs can work in concert with traditional ESA spiritual values recovery tools such as Candidate Conservation Agreements and Habitat Conservation Plans. Examples of Service programs that use market‐based tools for conserving trust Habitat Services resources include: migratory species habitat Conservation Banks (ESA Sections 7 & 10). In exchange for permanently protecting habitat for genetic diversity and managing habitat, the Service approves credits that land owners may sell to others whose projects result in unavoidable impacts to listed species. Over 120 banks, protecting more than 100,000 acres for 60 species, have been approved across the U.S. since the 1990s. Partners for Fish and Wildlife (Recovery). This program provides technical and financial assistance (incentive payments for Ecosystem Services) to private landowners and Tribes who want to restore native habitat on their lands.

When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. ~Aldo Leopold Ecosystem Services, Markets, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 12/2011

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