Training: Ecosystem Service Markets

Conservation and restoration practitioners are increasingly faced with the term “ecosystem services” and a complexity of emerging markets for these services. As states, regional authorities, land trusts, and others evaluate what lands should be set aside or restored, quantifying the ecosystem services provided by these lands or potentially provided by these lands is a new way to prioritize. Existing and emerging markets in ecosystem services may also become an additional source of revenue to help enhance conservation dollars. These new ecosystem service markets can become an important part of the business structure for land trusts and restoration businesses.

This course will present the fundamentals of ecosystem service markets, updates on the state of the biggest ecosystem service markets, and practical information about how to engage in these markets. The fundamentals will cover (1) the ecological underpinnings of the ecosystem services markets including how the service is quantified; (2) the use of economic valuation for prioritizing conservation opportunities and how markets are setting value for specific services; and (3) the legal and policy framework for these markets.