NatuReturn: An Environmental Management Tool

The explosive growth in data analytics driven by software and computing innovation enables powerful tools for environmental managers who plan, execute, and monitor projects. In the past costly and frequently protracted impact studies were necessary as part of the initial planning for projects. In this study, a prototype tool was developed that assists environmental managers by predicting a project’s return-on-investment and providing a risk assessment using historical and current environmental data early in the planning process. By synthesizing this information, potential projects can be evaluated and compared, giving stakeholders a quantitative ability to set priorities and determine where to allocate limited funds. The goal of this feasibility study was the completion of a GIS-based tool that builds on the existing methods of ecosystem service modeling by adding cost, schedule (time), and risk. By using oyster reef restoration as an example, the complexity of the tool, the difficulty of assembling relevant and accurate data, the database management challenges, the usefulness of the tool in general environmental projects, and the tool’s scalability are examined.