Ecosystem Services

The Sierra Business Council is partnering with land trusts, land managers, and land owners in the Sierra Nevada to measure, quantify, and capture the value of critical ecosystem services provided by our natural landscapes.

Ecosystem services are the functions of nature that humans rely on for survival. Examples include air and water purification, climate regulation, pollination of crops, provisioning of food, fiber, and medicines, flood control, recreation, and carbon sequestration.

Economists have attempted to ascribe values to these services through several methods. One method is to examine the cost of manufacturing replacement services. For example, what would it cost to construct and operate a water filtration plant versus the cost of maintaining and restoring a natural watershed? Another way to value ecosystem service is to ask people’s willingness to pay for certain services or activities, such as clean air or bird watching. A third way to determine the value of ecosystem services is through markets. Through regulatory policy greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide or other air pollutants can become global commodities that are traded. If they don’t meet the legal standards, polluters are required to buy pollution reduction credits or “offsets”. This creates a market for which commodities such as carbon credits can be bought and sold. In this case, the free market creates a price for the service (carbon sequestration) provided by natural ecosystems.

Our ecosystem services program looks at ways to measure and capture the value of the Sierra’s ecosystems not just for the products, but also the services that they provide. Markets for ecosystem services are an important element of the new restoration or conservation-based forest economy in the Sierra Nevada.

Our first project is the Sierra Nevada Carbon Cooperative, where we will help land owners and land managers measure, certify, market, and sell carbon credits from forestland conservation and management in the Sierra Nevada.

If you are interested in finding out more, email Program Director Christina Prestella or call 530.582.4800 ext.23.