Valuingecosystemservicesfromwetlandsrestorationint

AnalysisValuingecosystemservicesfromwetlandsrestorationintheMississippiAlluvialValleyW.AaronJenkinsa,⁎,BrianC.Murraya,RandallA.Kramerb,StephenP.FaulknercaNicholasInstituteforEnvironmentalPolicySolutions,DukeUniversity,Box90335,Durham,NC27708-0328,USAbNicholasSchooloftheEnvironment,DukeUniversity,Box90328,Durham,NC27708-0328,USAcU.S.GeologicalSurvey,NationalWetlandsResearchCenter,700CajundomeBlvd.,Lafayette,LA70506,USAabstractarticleinfoArticlehistory:Received20July2009Receivedinrevisedform20November2009Accepted22November2009Availableonline8January2010Keywords:EcosystemserviceEconomicvaluationWetlandsReserveProgramEcosystemmarketsSocialvalueMarketvalueThisstudyassessesthevalueofrestoringforestedwetlandsviatheU.S.government'sWetlandsReserveProgram(WRP)intheMississippiAlluvialValleybyquantifyingandmonetizingecosystemservices.Thethreefocalservicesaregreenhousegas(GHG)mitigation,nitrogenmitigation,andwaterfowlrecreation.Site-andregion-levelmeasurementsoftheseecosystemservicesarecombinedwithprocessmodelstoquantifytheirproductiononagriculturalland,whichservesasthebaseline,andonrestoredwetlands.Weadjustandtransformthesemeasuresintoper-hectare,valuation-readyunitsandmonetizethemwithpricesfromemergingecosystemmarketsandtheenvironmentaleconomicsliterature.Byvaluingthreeofthemanyecosystemservicesproduced,wegeneratelowerboundestimatesforthetotalecosystemvalueofthewetlandsrestoration.Socialwelfarevalueisfoundtobebetween$1435and$1486/ha/year,withGHGmitigationvaluedintherangeof$171to$222,nitrogenmitigationat$1248,andwaterfowlrecreationat$16.Limitedtoexistingmarkets,theestimateforannualmarketvalueismerely$70/ha,butwhenfullyaccountingforpotentialmarkets,thisestimaterisesto$1035/ha.Theestimatedsocialvaluesurpassesthepublicexpenditureorsocialcostofwetlandsrestorationinonly1year,indicatingthatthereturnonpublicinvestmentisveryattractivefortheWRP.Moreover,thepotentialmarketvalueissubstantiallygreaterthanlandowneropportunitycosts,showingthatpaymentstoprivatelandownerstorestorewetlandscouldalsobeprofitableforindividuallandowners.©2009ElsevierB.V.Allrightsreserved.1.IntroductionEcosystemservices,acollectivetermforthegoodsandservicesproducedbyecosystemsthatbenefithumankind,havetraditionallybeenundervaluedastheyoftenfalloutsideofconventionalmarkets(NRC,2005).Withoutmarketprices,theincentivetoprovidethemprivatelyhasbeenlowrelativetocompetinglanduses,suchascropsortimber.Reinforcingthisnotion,theMillenniumEcosystemAssessmentreportedthatabout60%ofglobalecosystemservicesarebeingdegradedorusedunsustainably(MEA,2005).Increasingly,societyisrecognizingtheessentiallinkbetweenhealthyecosystemsandhumanwelfareandseekswaystoincreasetheprovisionofeco-systemservices.Inrecentdecades,U.S.agriculturalpolicyhasimplementedprogramsthatofferfinancialincentivestoprivatelandownerstospurrestorationofnaturalhabitatanditsattendantecosystemservices.AyoungersiblingoftheConservationReserveProgram(CRP),theWetlandsReserveProgram(WRP)focusesspecificallyontherestoration,protection,andenhancementofwetlandsonprivatelandthroughstrategicpublicpaymentstolandownersaswellasincreasedcollaborationbetweenlandownersandgovernmentagen-cies.Originallyauthorizedin1985,theacreagecapforWRPwasexpandedto2.275millionacresinthe2002FarmSecurityandRuralInvestmentBill(USDA–NRCS,2007).ThisstudyfocusesontherestorationofwetlandecosystemservicesintheMississippiAlluvialValley(MAV),thefloodplainareabelowtheconfluenceoftheMississippiandOhioRiversandprincipallylocatedinthestatesofArkansas,Mississippi,andLouisiana.ThesearethetopthreestatesintermsofWRPenrollment(USDA–NRCS,2007).Oncecontainingnearly10millionhectares(Mha)ofbottomlandhardwoodforest,theMAVhadonly2.8Mharemainingbythe1980sfollowingmanydecadesofhydrologicalalterationandagriculturalexpansion(Kingetal.,2006).Themajorlanduseoftheregionisnowagriculture,dominatedbycultivationofcorn,cotton,rice,andsoybeans(USDA–NASS,2009).Thislandscapetransformationhashadprofoundecologicalconsequences,suchaswildlifehabitatlossandfragmentation,lossoffloodstorage,andwaterqualitydegradationduetononpointsourcerunoff.Duetohumanimpactonecosystems,effortstomaintainandrestoreecosystemsrequireanimprovedunderstandingofhowhumansbenefitfromecosystemsaswellashowhumanbehaviorcanbeinfluencedthroughconservationpaymentsandotherpolicytools(Heal,2000;Kramer,2007).Asagrowingbodyofresearchexaminesecosystemservicesandtheirvaluation,governmentagenciesaresearchingforEcologicalEconomics69(2010)1051–1061⁎Correspondingauthor.Tel.:[phone];fax:[phone].E-mailaddresses:[e-mail](W.A.Jenkins),[e-mail](B.C.Murray),[e-mail](R.A.Kramer),[e-mail](S.P.Faulkner).0921-8009/$–seefrontmatter©2009ElsevierB.V.Allrightsreserved.doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.11.022ContentslistsavailableatScienceDirectEcologicalEconomicsjournalhomepage:(Rickettsetal.,2004;Barbier,2007;USEPA,2002).Economistshavebeenmeasuringecosystemservicevaluesforyears;forexample,aspartoflegalproceedingstoassessandassignnaturalresourcedama