Beyond ecology to the economy: valuing private land ...€¦ · Beyond ecology to the economy:...
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Beyond ecology to the economy: valuing private land conservation Marnie Lassen, Strategic Projects Manager 29 March 2017
Transcript of Beyond ecology to the economy: valuing private land ...€¦ · Beyond ecology to the economy:...
Beyond ecology to the economy: valuing private land conservationMarnie Lassen, Strategic Projects Manager
29 March 2017
Who is Trust for Nature?
•Victoria’s dedicated private land conservation agency
•Created by statute
•Not-for-profit status
•Primary conservation tool: conservation covenant
What do we protect?
•>50,000ha over ~1,350 covenants
•~50,000ha across 47 owned sites
Part of a worldwide private land conservation movement
Global risks
Environmental risks feature for last 7 years in World Economic Forum Global Risks Report
In 2017:
Top 5 – likelihood1. Extreme weather events
2. Large scale involuntary
migration
3. Major natural disasters
4. Large-scale terrorist attacks
5. Massive incident of data
fraud/theft
Top 5 – impact1. Weapons of mass destruction
2. Extreme weather events
3. Water crises
4. Major natural disasters
5. Failure of climate-change
mitigation and adaptation
Connection to other risks
• 4 of the top ten ‘risk interconnections’ involve environmental risks
• Most frequently paired: water crises with failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation
Pilot natural capital valuation
• First for a land trust in Australia
• Joint project between NAB and
Trust for Nature
Why do it?
International
natural capital
consulting
company
Natural value
program: aims
to ensure every
business
decision takes
account of
natural capital
Seeking to
better articulate
and quantify the
various benefits
provided by
conservation
workContracted for
pilot studies
including TfN
Shared
interest in
ecosystem
service
valuation
3 study areas
Selected to represent a range of ecosystems and services
Upper Murray Darling Basin and Western Port: ~1% of private vegetated land protected by Trust for Nature
Neds Corner Station: 100% owned by Trust for Nature
Services valued
Climate regulation: marginal quantity of carbon sequestered per annum, using former carbon tax price
Erosion control: marginal water treatment costs due to sedimentation
Waste water treatment: marginal water treatment costs due to nutrients
Moderation of extreme events: buffering against natural disasters, eg by coastal and inland wetlands
Photo: Border Mail
Two values produced
Absolute value: $50m/annum
Marginal value: $4.3m/annum
• Additional value in two study areas as compared with unprotected scenario
• Values adjusted based on State vegetation condition data
• High value despite only 1% of vegetated private land being protected
Some observations
Highest value services: Climate regulation ($3.2m marginal value), then soil erosion control services ($1m marginal value)
Highest value ecosystems: Swamps, tidal marshes and wetlands provide highest ESV per ha
Challenges
• Based on both international and local data
• Communicating the findings:• making the results simple enough for
non-experts but nuanced enough to be credible
• giving the monetary values real meaning
• Translating the findings to conservation results
Uses and future work
• First step in independently quantifying the value of our work
• Enable apples-to-apples comparisons for government investment decisions
• Additional lens for prioritising conservation work
• Influence decisions that result in payments for ecosystem services to landowners, eg for catchment protection Photo: Annette Ruzicka
Tying it back to risk: Find your ecosystem services Perfect Match?
Climate change
Extreme weather events
Water security
Water quality
Soil erosion
Natural disasters
Climate regulation
Waste water treatment
Erosion control
Moderation of extreme events
Business risks Conservation ecosystem services
Trust for NatureLevel 5/379 Collins Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: (03) 8631 5888
www.trustfornature.org.au
Contact
Marnie Lassen
Strategic Projects Manager
Ph: (+613) 8631 5812
