Ecosystem Services
Good land management yields more than just apples and 2x4s. It also contributes valuable public services, like carbon storage, water quality protection, and habitat for fish. Markets for these ecosystem services can offer important incentives for land management practices that serve the public interest.
Ecotrust has been a leader in the development of ecosystem service markets in the Pacific Northwest, focusing on carbon as the most fully developed market.
- We offer public, private, and tribal land managers a unique package of services for Forest Management Planning, including spatial modeling, economic analysis, market expertise, and carbon aggregation;
- We operate Ecotrust Forest Management, Inc. to serve as a catalyst for the adoption of ecosystem markets — and ultimately improved forest management — across the Pacific Northwest;
- We worked with partners to develop a Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) methodology for carbon quantification;
- We joined the discussions of the Western Climate Initiative’s Washington and Oregon Forest Carbon Working Groups to advocate for incentives that serve good land management; and
- We partnered with international nonprofits The Katoomba Group and Forest Trends to bring experts from around the world to the 2006 Portland Katoomba conference
Background
A healthy forest on the Pacific Northwest landscape depends on the existence of a robust forest products industry. Without thinning and harvesting, managed forests — the vast majority of the region’s forestlands — can become overly dense and susceptible to insects and fire.
The dilemma is that while forests provide a wide range of environmental products and services, forest landowners are able to earn money primarily for only one product: timber. As a result, industrial forestland owners seek to maximize timber revenues, and the public good is guarded only through regulations.
New markets for ecosystem services offer an opportunity to change the debate around forest management in the Pacific Northwest. At the same time, the region’s long-lived, carbon-rich forests can play an important role in offsetting greenhouse gas emissions.
Ecotrust seeks to help shape the development of these markets to enhance restoration of the region’s lands and waters for the long-term benefit of residents and the global climate.
Potential Benefits for the Pacific Northwest
Forest Management
Forest management strategies such as extended rotations, greater tree retention on harvest, and so on can increase standing forest biomass and thus carbon storage. Depending on the specifics of management and location, these natural forest management strategies can offer significant habitat benefits, while maintaining a flow of wood products and timber-related employment.
Reforestation and Afforestation
As the livestock and dairy industries evolve, many previously converted floodplain and lowland pastures are now in marginal use. The reforestation and restoration of these lands can offer economic, social, and ecological benefits. From a carbon perspective, the conversion of degraded pasture to mature lowland forest would be significant. Potential co-benefits include reduction in water temperatures and other water quality improvements that enhance habitat for endangered salmon, diversified revenue sources for farmers and ranchers, and reduce hazards associated with decaying dike and tide gate infrastructure.
Fire and Insect Risk Reduction
Thinning of dense, young forests improves forest productivity and increases resistance to fire and insects, but a lack of markets sufficient to justify the costs of thinning poses a primary challenge. Markets for forest carbon offsets can help to change this equation, as forest thinning can enhance carbon storage through risk reduction and, over time, through greater productivity. If thinning projects can be combined with new markets for woody biomass, biofuels, and pellets, we may be able to improve forest health and reduce the frequency of catastrophic fires on millions of acres across the region.
Reduction in Land Conversion
Conversion of forestland results in a significant release of carbon. Forest carbon offset programs can potentially reduce conversions by providing incentives for maintaining land as forest through market design that addresses questions of additionality and leakage.
