Ecosystem Services Valuation: Perspectives,

Opportunities, & Challenges Kristy Wallmo, Economist

Office of Science and Technology

Presented NMFS Economics and Social Analysis Program ReviewSeptember 26-28, 2017

Silver Spring, MD

Outcomes of ecosystem functions that yield value to people

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service | Page 2

What are Ecosystem Services andEcosystem Service Values?

• Biomass production, climate regulation, coastal protection from storms, tourism & recreation

• Quantified/monetized value of the service

Increasing Interest

• Increasing interest in incorporating ecosystem service values into resource management at NOAA & NMFS

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service | Page 3

National Ocean PolicyImplementation Plan (2013)

Executive Memorandum on Incorporating Ecosystem Services into

Federal Decision Making (2015)

ESV Final Report to NOAA (2016)

• ESV has utility in frameworks of existing legal mandates,none specifically mention ecosystem services

Potential avenues for ESV

• Ecosystem-based Management/EBFM• Integrated Ecosystem Assessments• Place-based Management

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service | Page 4

Context for ESV at NOAA & NMFS

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service | Page 5

Examples of ESV Research

NMFS Economics and Social Analysis Program• Estimate nonmarket

values for threatened and endangered species under NMFS stewardship

• Collaborative effort with AKFSC and others

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service | Page 6

Examples of ESV ResearchNMFS Economics and Social Analysis Program

• Collaborative effort with NEFSC and SWFSC

Objective: Examine different designs for MPAs based on variationin size and restrictions on us

What are preferred sizes for an MPA and what are the associated values?

When (if ever) do MPAs generate negative values?

How do restrictions within the MPA (i.e. use type) including no human access, no harvesting, and limited take, affect preferences for MPA size and associated value?

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service | Page 7

Examples of ESV Research

NMFS / NOAA• Recreational fisheries values (multiple regions of US)

• Valuing protected riparian buffer lands (Wells Reserve, ME)

• Valuing salmon habitat & forest restoration actions (Elwha River, WA)

• Blue Carbon markets

• Habitat Economics Program — develop inventories of the valuesassociated with different habitat types

National Ocean Service, State andCounty Governments of Florida

Valuation & economic impacts of the South

Florida reef tract

University of Florida,Dept. of Wildlife Ecology

Oyster reef habitat valuation and

restoration

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service | Page 8

ESV Collaborations with External Partners

• Numerous journal publications

• Limited applications (generally)• HAPC proposed for EFH

Omnibus Amendment 2

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service | Page 9

Products & Applications

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | NOAA Fisheries | Page 10

ESVWG – NMFS Ecosystem Services Valuation Working Group

• Address the information gaps and challenges of measuring and applying ecosystem service values in NMFS’, and more broadly NOAA’s, research and management activities

• Primary focus is on non-market valuation and its use in measuring ES values and proper application of those ES values

• NMFS economists from Regions and Science Centers• Ecosystem valuation researchers/practitioners• Regional economists who conduct policy/regulatory analyses

ESVWG Initial ProjectsEcosystem Service Values and Marine Ecosystem Management:Opportunities and Challenges in the U.S.• How can ecosystem service values be incorporated in a systematic manner and

which services should the agency focus on given existing institutional constraints?

Stated Preference Valuation of Marine Ecosystem Services in the U.S.:An Assessment of the Current Literature and Future Directions • Focus on stated preference valuation studies of U.S. marine and coastal

ecosystem services (recreation, protected species protection, etc.)• Evaluate with respect to recent “best practices guidelines” (Johnston et al. 2017)

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | NOAA Fisheries | Page 11

ESV Challenges & Opportunities• Ecological relationships not completely understood

• Non-market valuation methods not without controversy

• Studies can be expensive and time-intensive

• Benefits transfer

• Availability of relevant and high-quality ecosystem service values

• Economic valuation databases: TEEB, Envalue, EVRI, et al.(see http://www.es-partnership.org/esp/80136/5/0/50)

• Matching ecosystem services to appropriate values – transfer errors

• Double-counting, temporal stability

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service | Page 12

ESV Challenges & Opportunities• Frameworks for including ESV in decision-making exist but to date

limited systematic use outside of commercial fishery values

• ESVWG is working toward improving this

• Opportunities to collaborate with scientists working on IEAs, EBFM

• Opportunity to establish best practices for identifying, estimating, and including values in management

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service | Page 13

Questions?

U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service | Page 14