Browsing by Author "Olander, Lydia"
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Item Open Access A Menu of State Actions to Promote Forest Carbon Sequestration and Storage(2022-05-27) Lohman, Adam; Mason, Sara; Olander, LydiaAcross the U.S., states are developing policies and programs to help promote forest-based natural climate solutions. This effort is bolstered by a growth in forest carbon programs that aim to make entry into the voluntary carbon offset market accessible to all landowners. Here we present a “menu” of policy and program options (that we call action items) derived from existing state programs and policies that decision makers can leverage to promote forest carbon solutions.Item Open Access A Review of the Use of Early-Action Incentives in U.S. Environmental Markets(2016-09-20) Galik, Christopher; Olander, LydiaEarly action can refer to activities undertaken prior to a regulatory program or the generation of a particular service before its use to mitigate an impact elsewhere. In U.S. environmental markets, early action can result in multiple benefits. One benefit is facilitation of market function by helping to generate a sufficient supply of viable, low-cost credits to buyers and gain momentum in new markets. Another benefit is providing advance mitigation, which can speed the delivery of ecosystem services. As markets emerge and mature, early action can help reduce lags in environmental performance, improve outcomes, and encourage innovation in mitigation approaches. Multiple tools have been proposed for encouraging early action in ecosystem services markets. To varying extents, these tools have also been deployed, providing valuable experience and insight into their functioning. This paper presents several case studies of how these tools have been used in wetland and stream mitigation, species and habitat banking, greenhouse gas emissions reduction and sequestration, and water quality trading. It finds that early action incentives necessary to motivate sellers differ from those necessary to motivate buyers and that interventions should account for this reality. The tool or approach best suited to encourage early action may also vary as conditions change and new barriers arise. Anecdotal evidence suggests the potential for benefits to accrue from early action, but additional data on the costs and benefits of early action are needed to inform the selection and implementation of specific tools. A revised version of the paper appears in the journal Land Use Policy.Item Open Access Are There Benefits to Integrating Corporate Health and Environmental Strategies? An Exploration of the Food/Agriculture and Textile Sectors(2019-04-12) Gauthier, Vincent; Olander, Lydia; Gallagher, DeborahItem Open Access Assessing County and Regional Habitat Conservation Plan Creation: What Contributes to Success?(2016-05-13) Baldino, Chelsea; Olander, Lydia; Galik, ChristopherItem Open Access Assessing the Effects of Management Activities on Biodiversity and Carbon Storage on Public and Private Lands and Waters in the United States(2023-04-13) Warnell, Katie; Mason, Sara; Karasik, Rachel; Olander, Lydia; Posner, Stephen; Alonso-Rodríguez, Aura; Aristizábal, Natalia; Bloomfield, Laura; Estifanos, Tafesse; Gourevitch, Jesse; Littlefield, Caitlin; Mazurowski, Jason; Menice, Katarina; Moore, Maya; Nicholson, Charlie; Sands, Bryony; Spencer, Leslie; Treuer, Tim; Ricketts, Taylor; Hartley, ChrisNatural and working lands (NWLs) provide many benefits to people, including storing greenhouse gases (GHGs), supporting biodiversity, and generating other ecosystem services. Management of NWLs can influence their condition and function and therefore the benefits they provide. This project surveys the synthesis literature to assess how different management actions on various types of NWLs affect biodiversity and GHG outcomes. This information can help to determine how to best manage these lands to contribute to both biodiversity and climate solutions in the United States. These results are a starting point to assess how different forms of management on various types of NWLs contribute to or detract from biodiversity and GHG outcomes. Though this study’s scope was limited to an exploration of biodiversity and GHG benefits provided by NWLs, this process could be adapted to examine the effects of management on other important ecosystem services, as well as how management affects equitable distribution of those services. Additional quantitative synthesis is also needed to compare the magnitude of different management activities’ impacts on biodiversity and carbon and to better understand how the intensity of certain activities influences these outcomes. This report is a collaboration between the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability and the Gund Institute for Environment at the University of Vermont. This research was supported by the US Department of Agriculture, Office of Environmental Markets, under a cooperative agreement. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or US Government determination or policy. For related work, please see Tracking the Benefits of Natural & Working Lands in the United States: Dataset Evaluation and Readiness Assessment.Item Open Access Best Practices for Integrating Ecosystem Services into Federal Decision Making(2015-07-20) Olander, Lydia; Johnston, Robert; Tallis, Heather; Kagan, Jimmy; Maguire, Lynn; Polasky, Steve; Urban, Dean; Boyd, James; Wainger, Lisa; Palmer, MargaretFederal agencies take many actions that influence ecosystem conditions and change the provision of ecosystem services valued by the public. To date, most decisions affecting ecosystems have relied on ecological assessments with little or no consideration of the value of ecosystem services. Best practice for ecosystem services assessments is to apply quantitative measures and methods that express both an ecosystem’s capacity to provide valued services and, through those services, social benefit (value). Although preference evaluation methods are well established, their implementation can be infeasible because of time or resource constraints, particularly when new data need to be collected. In such cases, the minimum standard recommended for an ecosystem services assessment is to use measures that go beyond narrative description and that are carefully constructed to reflect the ecosystem’s capacity to provide benefits to society but that stop short of a formal assessment of people’s preferences. These measures of ecosystem services are benefit-relevant indicators (BRIs). Their use ensures that ecosystem services assessments measure outcomes that are demonstrably relevant to human welfare, rather than biophysical measures that might not be relevant to human welfare. If ecosystem service values or BRIs are not used in some manner, ecosystem services are not being assessed, and no direct insights can be drawn about effects on social welfare. This minimum best practice is broadly achievable across agencies and decision contexts with current capacity and resources.Item Open Access Bigger Change Faster(2019-09) Mason, Sara; Olander, Lydia; Goldstein, Joshua; Tallis, Heather; Linou, Natalia; Snall, Roy; Huikuri, Suvi; Kreis, Katherine; Ringler, Claudia; Jacobs, Christine; Kelso, Megan; Zobrist, StephanieToday’s greatest sustainable development challenges can only be solved if we work together more effectively across the global development, health, and environmental communities. This report, co-authored by the Bridge Collaborative and UNDP, highlights three global challenges that require cross-sector solutions, and actions that can be taken now to drive bigger change faster for people and the world we share. A workbook drawn from this report, Delivering Bigger Change Faster: A Workbook on Strengthening Proposals for Projects With Cross-sector Impacts, Version 2.0 was published in June 2021.Item Open Access Bridge Collaborative Practitioner’s Guide: Principles and Guidance for Cross-sector Action Planning and Evidence Evaluation(2017-10-25) Tallis, Heather; Kreis, Katharine; Olander, Lydia; Ringler, ClaudiaThe health, development and environment sectors increasingly realize that they cannot achieve their respective goals by acting in isolation. Yet, as they pivot to act collectively, they face challenges in finding and interpreting evidence on sectoral interrelationships, and thus in developing effective evidence-based responses. Each sector already uses some form of evidence-based research, design and action planning, but methods vary and ideas about the strength of evidence differ, creating stumbling blocks in the way of cross-sector impact. A new initiative, called the Bridge Collaborative, sets out to spark cross-sector problem solving by developing common approaches that the three sectors could agree to and use. Specifically, the collaborative has focused on two linked areas of practice that could unlock cross sector collaboration – results chains and the evaluation of supporting evidence. Through this process, the collaborative has provided a platform for dialogue and collaboration among professionals from across these sectors, allowing for face-to-face interaction and discussion to build professional networks. This document captures a set of principles identified and used by the Collaborative, along with a detailed set of guidance for creating comparable results chains across sectors and evaluating evidence from multiple disciplines in common terms. These principles and guidance reflect novel contributions from the Bridge Collaborative as well as restatements of existing recommendations that resonated among health, development and environment researchers and practitioners.Item Open Access Building Ecosystem Services Conceptual Models(2018-09-05) Olander, Lydia; Mason, Sara; Warnell, Katie; Tallis, HeatherFunders and developers of infrastructure projects and businesses and managers overseeing critical natural resources are becoming increasingly aware of and interested in ecosystem services. Although methods for incorporating ecosystem services into decisions have been established through academic research, practical guidance for how to do so in the quick, simple, transparent, and low-cost, feasible ways often required for widespread implementation are just now under development. One tool that can support widespread implementation is the use of ecosystem services conceptual models, which can underpin both simple and complex methods while helping to improve consistency and credibility. These conceptual models link changes caused by an external stressor or intervention through the ecological system to socio-economic and human well-being outcomes. Ecosystem services conceptual models can be developed for any given site and intervention or created as reference models for a general type of intervention across sites. This report facilitates development and use of evidence-based ecosystem services conceptual models in federal decision making by presenting a “how-to” guide and illustrative examples.Item Open Access Challenges and Solutions to Permitting Living Shoreline Projects(2024-11-01) Wetzler, Chloe; Mason, Sara; Olander, LydiaItem Open Access Compensatory Mitigation on Federal Lands(2020-02-06) Doyle, Martin; Olander, Lydia; Sharon, Ori; Mason, Sara; BenDor, ToddAs compensatory wetland and stream mitigation expands, particularly in the western United States, the availability and prominence of federal lands will become increasingly relevant in affecting the execution of mitigation. Moreover, as land management agencies face constrained economic conditions there will be growing interest in alternative forms of revenue and sources of money for restoration. Thus, it is realistic to expect the question of compensatory mitigation on federal lands to become increasingly relevant across land management and regulatory agencies. This raises the question: if federal land management agencies are going to create policies to formalize mitigation on their lands, what major considerations do they need to take into account, and what alternatives need to be acknowledged? This report represents an examination of compensatory mitigation of aquatic resources (i.e., streams and wetlands) on U.S. federal lands through an examination of case studies and a review of the legal landscape in which such mitigation takes place. While the authors neither promote nor discourage mitigation on federal lands at this time, we do present a series of considerations and recommendations that should be taken into account as federal agencies begin formalizing policies regarding compensatory mitigation on their lands. While our review of existing federal lands mitigation projects was not comprehensive, it draws on learnings from significant cases that were highlighted by individuals deeply involved in these processes—federal agency members, nonprofit employees, and private mitigation bankers. Some of the issues identified with compensatory mitigation on federal lands drawn from case studies presented here may represent outliers, but are nevertheless important to emphasize so that, as policies for these processes are institutionalized, such issues can be addressed accordingly.Item Open Access Data and Modeling Infrastructure for National Integration of Ecosystem Services into Decision Making: Expert Summaries(2017-07-17) Olander, Lydia; Bagstad, Ken; Characklis, Gregory; Comer, Patrick; Effron, Micah; Gunn, John; Holmes, Tom; Johnston, Robert; Kagan, James; Lehman, William; Loomis, John; McPhearson, Timon; Neale, Anne; Patterson, Lauren; Richardson, Leslie; Ross, Martin; Saah, David; Sifleet, Samantha; Stockmann, Keith; Urban, Dean; Wainger, Lisa; Winthrop, Robert; Yoskowitz, DavidResource managers face increasingly complex decisions as they attempt to manage for the long-term sustainability and the health of natural resources. Incorporating ecosystem services into decision processes provides a means for increasing public engagement and generating more transparent consideration of tradeoffs that may help to garner participation and buy-in from communities and avoid unintended consequences. A 2015 White House memorandum from the Council on Environmental Quality, Office of Management and Budget, and Office of Science Technology and Policy acknowledged these benefits and asked all federal agencies to incorporate ecosystem services into their decision making. This working paper, expanded since its initial publication in November 2016, describes the ecological and social data and models available for quantifying the production and value of many ecosystem services across the United States. To achieve nationwide inclusion of ecosystem services, federal agencies will need to continue to build out and provide support for this essential informational infrastructure.Item Open Access Department of the Interior Nature-Based Solutions Roadmap(2023-12-11) Warnell, Katie; Mason, Sara; Siegle, Aaron; Merritt, Melissa; Olander, LydiaThis comprehensive resource, created in collaboration with the US Department of the Interior, is a first-of-its-kind reference for implementing nature-based solutions (NBS). Nature-based solutions are actions to protect, sustainably manage, or restore natural or modified ecosystems to address societal challenges—including climate change—in ways that help people and the environment. Examples cited in the Roadmap range from urban stormwater and runoff management to prescribed burns to living shorelines to restoration of various ecosystems. Nature-based solutions require planning and design specific to each site and strategy being employed, but some principles and considerations apply in every case. The first section of the Roadmap offers information on these cross-cutting principles and considerations, including community engagement, application of Indigenous Knowledges, equity and environmental justice, funding sources, and common barriers. The bulk of the nearly 500-page Roadmap is devoted to details 29 individual NBS strategies. Each strategy summary contains these elements: * A list of likely benefits, including climate threat reduction, socioeconomic and ecological benefits * Example projects from throughout the United States * Links to additional tools, training and resources for project planning, implementation and monitoring * Details about site suitability, how the strategy is implemented on the ground, and operations and maintenance needs This living document is part of the Nature-Based Solutions project at the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability. Explore more NBS content, including fact sheets on each of the strategies in the Roadmap.Item Open Access Developing a State-Level Natural and Working Lands Climate Action Plan(2022-10-13) Warnell, Katie; Olander, LydiaNatural and working lands—forests, wetlands, coastal, and agricultural lands—provide many benefits, including supporting key economic sectors, enhancing community resilience to hazards such as fires and floods, and contributing to climate mitigation by storing large amounts of carbon. North Carolina recently completed a Natural and Working Lands Climate Action Plan with recommendations for conserving, restoring, and managing these lands to preserve and enhance their benefits. This guide, aimed at other states interested in developing similar action plans, walks through the planning process, helpful resources, and the tracking of plan implementation—using examples from North Carolina’s experience.Item Open Access Ecosystem Services Conceptual Model Application: Bureau of Land Management Solar Energy Development(2018-09-05) Warnell, Katie; Olander, Lydia; Mason, SaraInterest in using ecosystem services to integrate considerations of people and the environment continues to grow in federal agencies. One method that can help agencies incorporate ecosystem services into decision making is the use of ecosystem services conceptual models, which link changes in biophysical systems caused by an intervention to human well-being outcomes. Evidence-based ecosystem services conceptual models can provide efficiency and consistency in application, transitioning ecosystem services from an interesting concept to an actionable approach for natural resource management. Despite the potential usefulness of these models, there are few examples available to build from and little published detail on how to implement them. This report provides an example of an ecosystem services conceptual model for solar energy development on lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The Bureau of Land Management wants to facilitate solar energy development on suitable land in the southwestern United States while minimizing negative impacts on social, cultural, and ecological systems. With agency staff, researchers at Duke's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Solutions developed a model that captures the potential outcomes of the installation and operation of solar energy facilities on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. An accompanying evidence library provides a summary of the currently available evidence for each relationship in the model and an assessment of the strength of that evidence. The ecosystem services conceptual models could improve and help to streamline environmental assessments and help the Bureau of Land Management achieve its socio-economic strategy.Item Open Access Ecosystem Services Conceptual Model Application: NOAA and NERRS Salt Marsh Habitat Restoration(2018-09-05) Mason, Sara; Olander, Lydia; Warnell, KatieInterest in using ecosystem services to integrate considerations of people and the environment continues to grow in federal agencies. One method that can help agencies incorporate ecosystem services into decision making is the use of ecosystem services conceptual models, which link changes in biophysical systems caused by an intervention to socio-economic and human well-being outcomes. Evidence-based ecosystem services conceptual models can provide efficiency and consistency in application, transitioning ecosystem services from an interesting concept to an actionable approach for natural resource management. Despite the potential usefulness of these models, there are few examples available to build from and little published detail on how to implement them. This report provides an illustrative ecosystem services conceptual model for salt marsh restoration at National Estuarine Research Reserve System sites. The National Estuarine Research Reserve System, which is closely associated with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, wants to protect and restore coastal ecosystems while reinforcing local social and cultural systems. Developed by staff at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Estuarine Research Reserve System, the ecosystem services conceptual model captures the potential outcomes of a salt marsh habitat restoration. An accompanying evidence library provides a summary of the currently available evidence for each relationship in the model and an assessment of the strength of that evidence.Item Open Access Ecosystem Services Conceptual Model Application: Testing General Model Adaptability(2018-09-05) Mason, Sara; Olander, LydiaThis case study, a companion to Ecosystem Services Conceptual Model Application: NOAA and NERRS Salt Marsh Habitat Restoration summarizes initial efforts to apply a general salt marsh ecosystem services conceptual model to specific sites. The case study proposes that developing a set of reference ecosystem services conceptual models for a constrained set of common management interventions would increase the efficiency and consistency of incorporation of ecosystem services in decision-making contexts. The case study discusses efforts to test whether a generalized model can be adapted to specific sites. It describes three cases: a retrospective case, a prospective case, and a quantitative case. Integrated in these studies is a discussion of the considerations that arise and revisions that should be made to a general model applied to a particular site.Item Open Access Ecosystem Services in a Conservation Planning Framework(2009-04-24T13:53:29Z) Cooley, DavidNatural ecosystems provide several important services to society, including water purification, crop pollination, and carbon storage. Until recently, however, these services were not paid for in market transactions, giving landowners little incentive to provide services at optimal levels. Payments for ecosystem services (PES) have addressed this by compensating landowners for the services they provide. PES have the potential to become powerful tools for conservation work, prompting the need for conservation planning for these services. In this project, the modeling tool InVEST was used to determine the spatial distributions of four ecosystem services (carbon storage, water purification, pollination, and biodiversity protection) for a study area in North Carolina. The outputs of these models were then overlaid to determine areas of the landscape that are important for the provision of multiple services. The individual and multiple ecosystem service maps were then used to help prioritize investment in specific property parcels based on the ecosystem services each provides under several land use change scenarios, including afforestation, wetland restoration, and the planting of riparian buffers.Item Open Access Evaluation of Publicly Accessible Nature-Based Solutions Databases as Sources for Evidence of Effectiveness(2024-07-24) Warnell, Katie; Olander, LydiaNature-based solutions (NBS) are “actions to protect, sustainably manage, or restore natural or modified ecosystems to address societal challenges, simultaneously providing benefits for people and the environment” (White House Council on Environmental Quality, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, White House Domestic Climate Policy Office 2022). They present opportunities to tackle both the climate and biodiversity crises simultaneously by supporting carbon sequestration by ecosystems, enhancing community resilience to climate hazards, and providing high-quality habitats for diverse species. However, uncertainty around the performance and reliability of NBS continues to be raised by engineers, local decision-makers, grant-makers, and the insurance industry as an obstacle for widespread implementation of NBS at scale. This uncertainty indicates the need for comprehensive and accessible data on NBS projects and outcomes that could be used to develop engineering standards, assess projects’ cost-benefit ratio, and incorporate NBS into insurance premium pricing. This report evaluates the NBS data currently available through publicly available databases relative to the information needs described above. In total, 27 databases with publicly available, structured information on NBS research studies (6 databases) or individual projects (21 databases) were assessed for their utility as well as geographic and topical coverage.Item Open Access Expanding Finance for Nature-Based Solutions to Achieve Climate, Environment, and Community Goals: An Introduction for Green Banks and Community Lenders(2023-11-14) Mason, Sara; Olander, LydiaNature-based solutions are actions to protect, manage, or restore natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges, simultaneously benefiting people and nature. There has been unprecedented recent government investment in nature-based solutions through programs funded by the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, but there remains a need for scaled-up financing of these projects in the United States. This need presents an opportunity to leverage green banks'—and other similar financial service providers like community development financial institutions'—financing capabilities. This document lays out a vision that describes why nature-based solutions are relevant and important to green banks' and community development financial institutions' climate- and community-driven missions, and what types of projects these institutions might support.