Counting on the Environment An Ecosystem Credit Accounting System Nicole Robinson-Maness The Willamette Partnership

What is the Partnership Working For?  Investing in what Mother Nature would invest in.  A fair and transparent way for people to track, buy, and sell the benefits of restoration.  Rules and tools that make restoring things that matter a practical business decision for private land managers.

Grey Infrastructure Cooling Towers Compliance: Achieved Cost: A Lot Green Infrastructure Restore 35 miles of streams Ecological Value: Not Much Ecological Value: Huge Compliance: Achieved Cost: A Lot Less

Keys for Ecosystem Markets to Work

Approved standards and protocols

Credit types Wetland Salmonid habitat Upland prairie habitat Water temperature Water nutrients Oak habitat Floodplain habitat Sagebrush habitat Coming soon Benefits of flow

How an Ecosystem Service Market Works Buyers In many instances, it is cost effective for a polluter or developer to buy credits from another entity to mitigate the footprint of their activities. Investors speculating on futures markets may also buy ecosystem services credits. Landowners (Sellers) Conservation practices that meet standards will produce measurable units of environmental improvement above a certain baseline and can be registered as ecosystem services credits. Aggregator NGOs, project developers, and other entities bring communities of producers to market by helping them register credits and bolstering supply side demand. Verifier Ensures quality of registered practices. Standards Scientific, NGO, and Govt. organizations work together to determine what practices lead to measurable units of environmental improvement Trading Platform Private companies or NGOs create a nexus to facilitate commerce between buyers and sellers of ecosystem services credits. Credit Metrics Measurable units of environmental improvement Credit Registry Conservation practices are enrolled as tradable ecosystem services credits.

ValidateCalculateVerifyRegisterTrack How it works