Habitat Equivalency Analysis Research Articles

Habitat equivalency analysis for oil spill damage assessment in the Bohai Sea, China

Oil spill damage assessment is a complex process that requires local specialized institutions. However, such studies are scare in the Bohai Sea of China. This study presents a Habitat Equivalency Analysis Framework for oil spill damage assessment. The equations of the framework are derived based on oil spill modeling and a case-specific Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) approach, using data from the Penglai 19–3 oil spill accident. The framework considers both the pollution scale (Extent of Damage) and ecological effect (Degree of Damage) to assess the ecological impacts of the oil spill. The Euler-Lagrange Particle Tracing Equation is used to simulate the oil movement trajectory, while the combination of oil weathering model and ERA is used to evaluate the ecological effects of benzene, a toxic component of oil, on aquatic species. The study finds that the loss of habitat service level in the event increases in a quadratic trend, and the accumulated compensation at the initial phase (the first four days) is quantified concretely, i.e., ∼Int.$ 82,191, ∼Int.$ 657,528, ∼Int.$ 2,219,159, and ∼Int.$ 5,260,229, respectively, for the first to fourth days. It is showed that the early-stage damage process of the habitat service value, which plays a crucial role in the decision of the final compensation, is significant and could not be neglected.

If coordination of remediation and restoration under CERCLA is such a good idea, why is it not practiced more widely?

Decades of practice have demonstrated favorable outcomes when restoration is considered early in the remedial process, especially when parties have an opportunity to avoid litigation over natural resource damage (NRD) claims. However, these two separate processes are most often done sequentially - with clean up decisions for contaminated sites made during the remedial investigation and feasibility study process and restoration of injured resources during a subsequent natural resource damage assessment. Coordinating these processes offers many advantages for remediating and restoring hazardous waste sites. In this paper, we illustrate why this is true, and explore reasons why it is not practiced more universally. Coordination can generate savings by reducing the amount of time and money required to address natural resource damage claims and build trust among stakeholders. Yet, there are barriers to coordination, such as uncertainty over the benefits that restoration will generate, or the potential risk that undertaking coordination could be viewed as admitting to liability for harm to natural resources. Existing federal statutes also can be an obstacle because they bifurcate remediation and restoration. The economic, legal and policy issues relevant to the integration of remediation and restoration were examined, and how they might be used to encourage early coordination. Habitat equivalency analysis was used to illustrate the tangible natural resource service gains that can be achieved when the processes are coordinated. Selected site-specific examples were drawn upon where coordination occurred and documented. This information was augmented with the results of a survey of companies about their experience with coordination. Finally, we discuss the potential policy and legal approaches that might help bring remediation and restoration together and result in improved practices nationwide, and thereby provide benefits to industrial parties, government, and affected communities alike.

ЗАРУБІЖНІ ПРАКТИКИ ОЦІНЮВАННЯ ЗБИТКІВ ДЛЯ ПОВОЄННОГО ВІДНОВЛЕННЯ ДОВКІЛЛЯ

The article examines in detail the experience of the Iraq-Kuwait war in terms of receiving compensation for the damage caused by the war to the surrounding natural environment. In particular, the "Habitat Equivalency Analysis" methodology, which was used to determine the amount of compensatory restoration to cover losses in ecological services that were provided by natural resources before their damage. The methodology aims to estimate the total loss of services provided by a damaged or lost habitat. The FAO methodology for damage and loss assessment in agriculture was also analyzed. In which the focus is on the continuous collection of data on damage and loss in agriculture, recording the smaller and localized effects of disasters. The focus in the review of the methodology is focused on the determination of damages and losses in forestry. Such components as: damages and losses of forestry; loss of forestry production; loss of forestry products; damage to forestry assets. It was established that the considered methodology is suitable for determining the damage caused by military actions for forest resources in the part that directly concerns the forest cover.
 One of the areas of damage assessment in the nature management sector is the determination of options for primary (restoration) recovery. This stage refers to actions aimed at restoring the damaged resource and, if possible, returning it to the basic level (before the war), which involves establishing recovery goals; determination of primary restoration options; selection of primary restoration options; assessment of intermediate damages, etc. The choice of primary restoration options should be the result of an evaluation process based on the following criteria, but not limited to cost of implementation; the length of time it will take for the recovery to be effective; probability of success, etc.
 The next steps should be a large-scale damage assessment in accordance with generally accepted methods, development of ways to restore the natural environment and identification of funds to minimize or eliminate the damage caused to the elements of the environment or natural resources.

Assessment of a Habitat Equivalency Analysis for Freshwater Mussels in the Upper Mississippi River

The upper Mississippi River (UMR) contains diverse, dense, and reproducing assemblages of native freshwater mussels. In the case of an injury to mussels and their habitats, such as a hazardous material spill, train derailment, or barge grounding, resource managers have few restoration strategies. Resource managers need a means to document, quantify, and mitigate adverse effects on mussels resulting from injury. Habitat equivalency analysis (HEA), developed for use with a wide variety of habitat types, is a restoration scaling technique that compares ecological services lost from injury to ecological services gained through restoration actions. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Iowa Department of Natural Resources modified the HEA for use with native mussels. The mussel HEA has been applied within the UMR to estimate the quantity of restoration needed to compensate the public for injuries to mussels due to contaminant spills and construction projects. Our objective was to describe the UMR HEA for a general audience and assess if the four biological input variables used in the mussel HEA were reasonable based on literature values. We also evaluated the performance of HEA under a range of input scenarios. Although the input estimates used in HEA were within ranges reported in the peer-reviewed literature or were supported by professional judgment in the absence of peer-reviewed literature, outcomes of the mussel HEA were highly variable and would benefit from additional research to reduce uncertainty in the biological inputs. The application of HEA to mussels provides resource managers with a tool to quantify mussel-related ecological services lost from injury and to guide restoration efforts in the UMR.

Transient Alterations in Streamwater Quality Induced by Pollution Incidents: Interim Losses Calculations and Compensation Alternatives Based on Habitat Equivalency Analysis.

Pollution incidents cause transient water quality alterations during the passage of contaminants' plume along watercourses, with plume passage period and contaminants' concentrations modelled by advection-dispersion equations. Despite being transient, water quality alterations can impose many impacts on the streamwater ecosystem services. This study proposes two frameworks based on Habitat Equivalency Analysis to be applied during assessments of streamwaters' pollution incidents and respective compensation panoramas: (1) Streamwater interim loss framework, to calculate interim loss debits caused by transient alterations in the streamwater quality; (2) Total credit framework, to calculate streamwater credits generated by improvements in selected watercourse's streamwater quality, produced by wastewater treatment plants in this study. The amount of credits calculated in the selected watercourses assists in the proposal of suitable compensatory remediation projects to offset interim losses. Frameworks' calculations are founded on IVA, a water quality index for protection of aquatic life and aquatic communities. Frameworks' calculations depend on three parameters: IVA, watercourses fluxes and the present value multiplier. The frameworks were calculated in ΔIVAxL, unit defined by multiplying sensed alterations in streamwater quality (as ΔIVA) and streamwater flux, in liters (L). The frameworks were applied to two major streamwater pollution incidents in Brazil, caused by the dam collapses of Mariana and Brumadinho, suggesting suitable compensatory remediations' projects for the respective streamwater interim losses. Depending on the selected project, Brumadinho compensation period varied from 2 to 5 years, with estimated costs in the 2020 Int.$ 5.7-18.7M range; Mariana compensation period varied from 8 to 20 years, with estimated costs in the 2020 Int.$ 16.7-58.1M range. Based on Brumadinho compensatory remediation projects, an average water pollution environmental damage value per interim loss was calculated, 1.17E-4 2020 Int.$/ΔIVAxL, which might be useful in comparing streamwater pollution evaluations around the world.

Habitat and Resource Equivalency Analysis: 30 Years of Lessons Learned and a Look to the Future

ABSTRACT Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) is a process used to determine the amount of compensation due to the public for natural resource injuries arising from oil spills. Two models, Resource Equivalency Analysis (REA) and Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA), are used in essentially all OPA NRDAs to compute compensatory restoration requirements. REA is applied when members of wildlife populations are injured: usually mortality or a loss of reproduction among a species of bird, turtle, marine mammal, or fish. HEA is used when habitats are injured: usually oiling of beaches, wetlands, or sediments. The models are often implemented in a cooperative setting with input from both the Responsible Party and the Trustees. In this setting the models provide a structure for organizing negotiations and identifying the types of agreements that need to be reached before restoration can be identified and “right sized.” The models also have a technical basis in economic theory that is fully justified, but only in particular, limited circumstances. This technical basis is the only means of assuring the Trustees, RPs, and stakeholders that the NRDA process has identified an appropriate level of compensation. When the circumstances of a spill do not approximate those in which HEA and REA are defensible, creative solutions are needed to adjust the models to the circumstances of the case if they are to provide a convincing basis for scaling restoration and reaching resolution. This paper identifies the circumstances under which REA and HEA are fully defensible as well as 35 years of evolving adjustments designed to make them “work” when applied to real-world cases they do not quite fit. We also look to the future and how climate change may alter restoration scaling.

Estimating compensation ratios for tribal resources within a habitat equivalency framework

A challenging aspect of Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA) concerns adequately accounting for the relative value of the injured and restored or replaced resources. This issue is particularly relevant in the case of applying HEA to injured tribal trust (reservation) lands which enjoy special legal and cultural status. NOAA guidelines for HEA application state when choosing a metric to evaluate the quantity and quality of services provided by a unit of habitat, in addition to bio-physical characteristics, trustees should examine landscape, land ownership, and substitute resource characteristics. The analysis presents a theoretical framework and application of augmenting a traditional HEA analysis with discrete choice survey modeling results to ensure all key characteristics of the injured and restored or replaced resources are considered within the equivalency analysis. The example used is for the Spokane Tribe of Indians in Washington State and contamination of their tribal waterway, the Upper Columbia River/Lake Roosevelt. The addition of a discrete choice model of respondent preferences for site characteristics improves the standard HEA analysis by providing an empirical basis for unit equivalencies.

Restoration Scaling Approaches to Addressing Ecological Injury: The Habitat-Based Resource Equivalency Method

Natural resource trustee agencies must determine how much, and what type of environmental restoration will compensate for injuries to natural resources that result from releases of hazardous substances or oil spills. To fulfill this need, trustees, and other natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) practitioners have relied on a variety of approaches, including habitat equivalency analysis (HEA) and resource equivalency analysis (REA). The purpose of this paper is to introduce the Habitat-Based Resource Equivalency Method (HaBREM), which integrates REA’s reproducible injury metrics and population modeling with HEA’s comprehensive habitat approach to restoration. HaBREM is intended to evaluate injury and restoration using organisms that use the habitat to represent ecological habitat functions. This paper seeks to expand and refine the use of organism-based metrics (biomass-based REA), providing an opportunity to integrate sublethal injuries to multiple species, as well as the potential to include error rates for injury and restoration parameters. Applied by NRDA practitioners in the appropriate context, this methodology can establish the relationship between benefits of compensatory restoration projects and injuries to plant or animal species within an affected habitat. HaBREM may be most effective where there are appropriate data supporting the linkage between habitat and species gains (particularly regionally specific habitat information), as well as species-specific monitoring data and predictions on the growth, density, productivity (i.e., rate of generation of biomass or individuals), and age distributions of indicator species.

Habitat Equivalency Analysis, a framework for forensic cost evaluation of environmental damage

When environmental damage takes place, forensic experts investigate and undertake initial damage assessments. Determining damage costs can be challenging in terms of remedial action and of assigning monetary value to losses. We develop a Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA) framework to assess environmental damage costs and apply it to three case studies from the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest (BAR). Remediation costs have been used previously as proxies for valuing ecosystem services (ES). In this approach, interim losses, those ES not supplied till the damage is restored, are accounted as compensatory remediation costs, the costs of resource enhancement or creation that compensates for the loss in ES provision. We compared values derived here to those using an alternative valuation, based on a tropical forest’s average annual value (Int.$/ha/year), as described in the literature. Findings demonstrate the potential of the framework to account for interim losses, perpetual damages and the cost of remediation. Although the three study areas varied in the extent of damage and the remediation procedures, the damage cost per hectare was of the same order of magnitude and within a narrow range: 13,216; 28,024; and 19,681 (in 2017 Int.$/ha) for the Citrus; Sand Mining and Eucalyptus study areas respectively. The environmental damage costs per hectare appraised by the alternative valuation were higher and showed greater variation: 32,692; 139,389; and 38,260 (in 2017 Int.$/ha) respectively. The experimental data were shown to be within the range of theoretical results derived. As HEA valuation is solely based on ecosystem damage remediation principles, its application will provide a more robust platform for the evaluation of the total economic value of tropical forests, even in the early stages of damage assessments.

Natural resource damage assessment for the Hebei Spirit oil spill: An application of Habitat Equivalency Analysis

Sixteen oil spills occurred in Korea between 1995 and 2010, including the Hebei Spirit oil spill (HSOS) in 2007, the largest (77,857 barrels) in Korean history. Yet compensation for environmental damages has never been claimed under the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund for any of these accidents, because there is no adequate natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) procedure and there are no internationally-admissible economic quantification methods established in Korea. The objective of this study is to propose a methodology to overcome these shortcomings. We propose the use of Habitat Equivalency Analysis, which has dominated the US NRDA process for oil spills, and apply it to the HSOS as a case study. A Base Case analysis estimates the compensatory costs of fishery habitat damages (34,703.5ha) with a 10-year recovery rate at $119.4 million. We also conduct sensitivity analyses under several alternative assumptions.

Catching a wave? A case study on incorporating storm protection benefits into Habitat Equivalency Analysis

Since Hurricane Sandy, there has been heightened attention to increasing the resilience of coastal communities to extreme events, including storm protection provided by coastal ecosystems. Storm protection benefits (SPB) are the ability of ecosystems, including wetlands, reefs, and beaches/dunes, to attenuate waves and storm surge. SPB are a topic of growing interest in the scientific and policy spheres, including discussions of how to incorporate SPB into existing policies. As an engine for restoration and a leading mechanism for the evaluation of ecosystem services, Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) provides a platform for better internalizing this and other services into decision-making particularly using Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA). HEA does not explicitly account for impacts to ecosystem services that flow from one habitat to an adjacent one. This study examines a hypothetical case study of an oil spill that impacts a marsh with resulting impacts on SPB to the adjacent upland forest. To more fully assess these impacts, a “nested HEA” was developed which accounts for cross-habitat ecosystem service flows. The nested HEA captures the impacts of the marsh loss on the forest due to wave and saltwater intrusion that would not be captured by a traditional HEA. By adapting the HEA approach with a nested HEA, NRDA could quantify direct ecosystem services losses as well as additional cross-service flows between habitats. However, additional data are needed in order to perform a nested HEA, and in the case of SPB, location-specific data likely will be needed to appropriately specify the model.

An update of the Visual_HEA software to improve the implementation of the Habitat Equivalency Analysis method

The Visual_HEA software tool was created in 2006 to facilitate the assessment of losses and gains in ecosystem services related to compensatory mitigation under the United States National Resource Damage Assessment Act (NRDA). Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA) is an ecological equivalence assessment method under NRDA that can be performed using the Visual_HEA software and for which it was named. The newers version – 2.6 – was recently enhanced and tested over several years to be adapted to the European context and to facilitate adherence to the Environmental Liability Directive (2004/35/EC) to compensate for environmental damages. Herein, enhancements, limitations, and a turnkey method of calculating variable gain and loss rates over space and time using the 2.6 version of the software are discussed. Major functionality enhancements include a quarterly discount calculation, increased decimal precision, gain calculations that extend into perpetuity, and the elimination of many small software “bugs”. A case study about the accidental pollution of the Mimizan River from a sodium hypochlorite spill at a paper mill illustrates the new functionalities of the software. The use of the HEA method to assess ecosystem services related to biodiversity offset has been widespread thanks to the development of this user-friendly software package. Furthermore, the HEA method implemented in Visual HEA_2.6 is recommended by the European Commission to enforce its Environmental Liability Directive and to size mitigations after accidental environmental damages.

The role of ecosystem services in USA natural resource liability litigation

This paper examines how the United States has valued harm to public resources in natural resource liability laws and practice, an early legal application of the ecosystem-services conceptual framework. Our primary focus is on valuing harm to the difficult-to-value resources and ecological services that provide indirect or passive human uses, for which revealed preference valuation methods (based on observable behavior) are not applicable. We concentrate on the past 25years of U.S. experience with the innovative, restoration-based framework established in regulations implementing the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. By reframing the damage claims as the cost of both “primary” restoration (to promote recovery of injured resources) and “compensatory” restoration (to account for interim losses pending recovery), the regulations deflected some of the controversy surrounding valuation methods.The restoration-based compensation framework provides two basic approaches for calculating the scale of compensatory restoration projects. A service-to-service approach, which does not require valuation, applies to projects that provide resources and ecosystem services of the same type, quality, and comparable value as those harmed. A valuation approach, intended for a broader range of applications, relies on survey-based methods.For injuries to ecological services, we found trustees have relied almost exclusively on habitat equivalency analysis (HEA), a service-to-service approach, adapting its use to applications where restoration projects make resource and/or ecosystem services substitutions. We explore how the trustees address the challenge of characterizing the equivalency between injury and restoration resources and ecosystem services through the choice of restoration projects and the choice of the ecosystem service metrics. Widely used in the U.S. and EU, the restoration-based measure of damages and the associated HEA methodology may be useful for other countries.

Managing for No Net Loss of Ecological Services: An Approach for Quantifying Loss of Coastal Wetlands due to Sea Level Rise.

Sea level rise has the potential to substantially alter the extent and nature of coastal wetlands and the critical ecological services they provide. In making choices about how to respond to rising sea level, planners are challenged with weighing easily quantified risks (e.g., loss of property value due to inundation) against those that are more difficult to quantify (e.g., loss of primary production or carbon sequestration services provided by wetlands due to inundation). Our goal was to develop a cost-effective, appropriately-scaled, model-based approach that allows planners to predict, under various sea level rise and response scenarios, the economic cost of wetland loss-with the estimates proxied by the costs of future restoration required to maintain the existing level of wetland habitat services. Our approach applies the Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model to predict changes in wetland habitats over the next century, and then applies Habitat Equivalency Analysis to predict the cost of restoration projects required to maintain ecological services at their present, pre-sea level rise level. We demonstrate the application of this approach in the Delaware Bay estuary and in the Indian River Lagoon (Florida), and discuss how this approach can support future coastal decision-making.

Study on Efficient Port Environmental Management for Sustainable Port Operation (I): Case Study of Marine Environments and Natural Resources Impacts by Busan New Port Development

국가물류경제의 중축산업인 항만의 지속가능한 운영과 개발을 위해서는 인프라 확충을 통한 경쟁력확보와 더불어 대기오염, 수질오염, 소음 및 생태계 파괴 등의 항만환경문제로 인한 지역커뮤니티와의 갈등해소가 더 중요한 요소로 부각되고 있다. 우리나라 부산 신항만 개발사업의 경우도 신항만 공사용 바다모래 채취로 인한 어민들과의 갈등 때문에 항만공사가 중단된 경험이 있으며, 그 주요 원인으로 현행 어업피해조사제도를 포함한 항만환경피해에 대한 정량적인 영향성 평가법의 부재와 한계라 할 수 있다. 따라서 본 연구의 주목적은 우리나라 항만의 지속가능한 항만운영 및 개발을 위한 효율적인 항만환경관리에 필수적인 정량적 환경영향성평가 방안의 제시에 있다. 이를 위해 국내외 항만의 환경정책과 사례분석을 통해 전반적인 항만환경문제와 그 영향(피해)에 대해서 살펴보고, 피해를 입은 환경재와 서비스의 전체적 경제적 가치를 평가할 수 있는 경제적 가치평가법을 제시하였다. 제시된 방법론 중에서 부산 신항만 개발로 따른 정박지 지정으로 인한 해양생태계 서비스 피해 사례에 대해 보다 과학적으로 추정할 수 있는 Habitat Equivalency Analysis(HEA)를 적용하여, 예시적인 피해액을 추정하였다. 본 연구의 결과를 토대로, 제시된 항만환경피해에 대한 경제적 영향성평가방법론의 제도적 도입을 통하여 보다 효율적인 항만환경관리방안을 제시하였다. The sustainable operation and development of ports is a key industry for Korea's national economy. It is increasingly more important to resolve conflicts with local communities due to port environmental problems such as air pollution, water pollution, noise and ecosystem destruction while securing port competitiveness through infrastructure expansion. In case of the Busan New Port development project in Korea, construction has been temporally suspended due to conflict with local fishermen over marine sand mining for construction. A primary reason for this is the absence and limitation of qualitative port environmental impact assessment methodologies in Korea. This includes the current investigation of fisheries damaged by ports. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to propose economic valuation methods for assessing environmental impacts that are essential for efficient port environmental management and for sustainable port operation and development in Korea. To do this, this study examines the overall port environmental problems and their effects (damages) through the analysis of environmental policies and case studies of domestic and overseas ports. Then economic valuation methods are suggested for total economic values (TEV) of damaged environmental goods and services. Among the proposed methods, Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA), as a more scientific data based method, was applied to estimate marine ecosystem service damages from the designation of Busan New Port Anchorages. Finally, based on the study results, more efficient port environmental management will be achieved through the institutional adoption of the proposed economic impact assessment methods for port environmental damages.

Ecosystem services assessment and compensation costs for installing seaweed farms

In a global context of promotion and expansion of blue growth initiatives, the development of activities such as aquaculture calls for the assessment of the potential impacts on biodiversity at different levels and associated services. This paper presents an assessment of the potential impact of the installation of seaweed farms on ecosystem services and the induced compensation costs. Biophysical and socioeconomic indicators have been developed for helping decision makers to select the most suitable locations. The approach considers a multi-criteria approach based on Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA). The former is used to obtain biophysical ecosystem services and socioeconomic indicators and the latter to evaluate the costs required to compensate the loss of cultural and provisioning ecosystem services. A case-study in the Normand-Breton (Saint Malo) Gulf, France, illustrates this method through the analysis of hypothetical locations of seaweed farms. Results highlight the differences between alternative locations regarding biophysical constraints (in terms of distance and depth), potential risks of conflicts with existing uses, impacts on habitats and the ecosystem services delivered, and compensation costs. This case-study illustrates the flexibility of this approach which can be further adapted to include other indicators in order to deliver integrated information to coastal planners.

Improving marine biodiversity offsetting: A proposed methodology for better assessing losses and gains

Although the limitations of implementing the mitigation hierarchy have been widely discussed in scientific literature, these studies have drawn mainly on feedback concerning terrestrial ecosystems. In the case of development projects in marine and coastal environments, certain issues must be tackled to improve existing practice. This article focuses on the methodologies used to assess both the ecological losses resulting from a development project and the ecological gains generated by an offset measure. The originality of this article is to propose a standardized, operational approach regardless of the development project and the ecosystem impacted that (i) enhances avoidance and reduction efforts and (ii) assesses biodiversity offset needs based on data available in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). The proposed hybrid method combines a multi-criteria analysis of the state of the environment, inspired by the Unified Mitigation Assessment Method (UMAM), and a more accurate assessment at indicator level inspired by Habitat Equivalency Analysis (HEA). The steps of the method, from the selection of biophysical indicators to offset sizing, are described and are then applied to two EIA case studies: one related to a port extension and the other to an offshore wind farm.

Integration of different environmental valuation methods to estimate forest degradation in arid and semi-arid regions

ABSTRACTMany factors are aggravating desertification and degradation of forests such as urbanization, droughts, exploitation of natural resources and climate change. The study aims at estimating and assessing the degradation of forests in arid and semi-arid regions. This task however is complicated since the impact of the degradation will be in different forms such as loss of wood, soil erosion and lost recreational areas. Nevertheless the dynamic impact of the degradation is increasing the complexity of analysis since forest once lost is a reduction of value for all subsequent years. This study is considering the value of damages over time and it is using the concept of three environmental valuation methods to estimate the whole impact of the degradation: the habitat equivalency analysis (HEA), the productivity method and the benefit transfer method. The methods were applied to specific values of forests, depending on the best applicability, and the results combined to an overall value loss. The costs are calculated based on the year 2014 with two time horizons: 30 and 100 years. To apply the valuation approach, Jordan as an arid and semi-arid country is chosen. The result shows that the annual costs of environmental degradation of Jordanian forest areas equal about 0.14% of GDP in 2013, proving the enormous value lost to forest degradation or deforestation. The valuation approach can be transferred to other arid or semi-arid areas and stimulate forest conservation activities to prevent further degradation and to save the forest ecosystem services for the future.

Measuring Bahamian lionfish impacts to marine ecological services using habitat equivalency analysis

Marine ecological services provide goods, amenities, food resources, and economic benefits to millions of people globally. The loss of these services, attributed to the infiltration of marine invasive species such as the Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles), is measurable. The highly successful lionfish now flourishes in great densities in the US Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic waters and the entire Caribbean, yet the loss of ecological services attributed to the invader has not yet been assessed. In this study, we employ a derivative of a well-utilized method of ecosystem valuation known as habitat equivalency analysis to measure the time-value-adjusted loss of biomass- and recruitment-related ecosystem services brought by lionfish to Bahamian reefs. Drawing upon the literature examples of tangible lionfish damages in the Bahamas, we (1) quantitatively evaluate the loss of ecosystem services instigated by lionfish by measuring the total service-year losses partitioned over yearly time steps, (2) provide a metric by which ocean managers may value the remunerations of Bahamian lionfish controls when weighed against removal costs, and (3) deliver a tool to quantify changes in ecosystem services as a consequence of invasive species impacts and control. We found that the invader imposed losses of 26.67 and 21.67 years to recruitment and biomass services per km2 of Bahamian reef if left uncontrolled. In the same accord, the most conservative Bahamian lionfish removal regime modeled, i.e., which produced a 50 % recovery of pre-lionfish ecosystem function over 10 years, provided service gains of 9.57 and 4.78 years per km2. These data deliver a platform upon which to quantify present and future fiscal costs of the lionfish invasion and also to value lionfish control efforts.

Using Habitat Equivalency Analysis to Assess the Cost Effectiveness of Restoration Outcomes in Four Institutional Contexts.

At the national level, with a fixed amount of resources available for public investment in the restoration of biodiversity, it is difficult to prioritize alternative restoration projects. One way to do this is to assess the level of ecosystem services delivered by these projects and to compare them with their costs. The challenge is to derive a common unit of measurement for ecosystem services in order to compare projects which are carried out in different institutional contexts having different goals (application of environmental laws, management of natural reserves, etc.). This paper assesses the use of habitat equivalency analysis (HEA) as a tool to evaluate ecosystem services provided by restoration projects developed in different institutional contexts. This tool was initially developed to quantify the level of ecosystem services required to compensate for non-market impacts coming from accidental pollution in the US. In this paper, HEA is used to assess the cost effectiveness of several restoration projects in relation to different environmental policies, using case studies based in France. Four case studies were used: the creation of a market for wetlands, public acceptance of a port development project, the rehabilitation of marshes to mitigate nitrate loading to the sea, and the restoration of streams in a protected area. Our main conclusion is that HEA can provide a simple tool to clarify the objectives of restoration projects, to compare the cost and effectiveness of these projects, and to carry out trade-offs, without requiring significant amounts of human or technical resources.