2023 Annual Report
Earth Economics
A Message From Our Executive Director
After the last three years of suboptimal revenues through the pandemic, we have emerged stronger and more resilient at Earth Economics. This year marks a turning point, showcasing our ability to adapt and thrive in challenging circumstances. Our team's dedication to leveraging science and collaboration has reinforced our mission of protecting the environment and supporting communities through innovative, data-driven approaches.
Our approach, grounded in rigorous analysis and a deep respect for the intrinsic value of nature, has continued to guide decision-makers toward choices that prioritize long-term wellbeing for both people and the environment. In every project, from the restoration of the Duckabush Estuary to the transformation of agricultural lands into resilient wetlands in Louisiana, we have demonstrated the economic, social, and ecological benefits that thoughtful, nature-based solutions can provide.
The impact of our work is perhaps best captured in the words of our partners. The Salmon Parks Stewardship Society highlighted the importance of translating the complex value of Indigenous-led conservation into terms that resonate with diverse stakeholders. Their testimony is a powerful reminder of the role Earth Economics plays in ensuring that often-overlooked benefits are recognized and valued. Similarly, the Nez Perce Tribe Water Resources Division expressed their gratitude for our partnership, underscoring the mutual respect and shared goals that drive our collaborations.
This year, we also deepened our commitment to addressing climate change and environmental justice, from expanding FEMA’s Benefit Cost Analysis tools to better account for the value of nature, to supporting the development of Resilience Hubs in the South Bronx. Each of these projects represents a step toward a more equitable and sustainable future.
Our work has spanned diverse geographies and challenges, yet the common thread is clear: by valuing nature and integrating its benefits into decision-making processes, we can create solutions that are not only effective but also just and sustainable.
As we look ahead to 2024, I am confident that with your continued support and the dedication of our team, we will build on this momentum. Together, we will continue to advocate for the recognition of nature’s true value and drive the changes necessary to protect our planet and its people.
Thank you for your partnership and belief in the mission of Earth Economics. Here’s to another year of impactful work and meaningful progress.
Onwards and Upwards,
Maya Kocian
Executive Director, Earth Economics
Our Approach & Testimonials
Decisions require tradeoffs. For far too long the process of making the decisions did not prioritize the impact those tradeoffs have on the long-term wellbeing of people and nature. Earth Economics applies science-based data and analysis to help decision makers mitigate risks, increase sustainability, and optimize long-term community and environmental vitality resulting in better investment and policy decisions.
“Building a holistic, large-scale, and Indigenous-led conservation program like Salmon Parks is complex and takes a diverse set of expertise. Translating the value of our program into terms that decision-makers and multiple stakeholders can understand is key to building and maintaining strategic support for Salmon Parks, so we rely on Earth Economics to account for and communicate the values generated by Indigenous-led conservation that are so often externalized and overlooked.”
“Your work is outstanding and It is just such a gift to work with you. We are so grateful for your excellent work and proud to have you as a partner.”
Where We Worked in 2023
The Value of Protecting and Restoring the Duckabush Estuary
The Value of Protecting and Restoring the Duckabush Estuary. Click to expand.
In early 2023, Earth Economics conducted an ecosystem service valuation and jobs analysis of the Duckabush Estuary Restoration Project, a $120m infrastructure project, which will raise a causeway into a 1,600-foot full spanning bridge, reestablishing the estuary’s connection to neighboring floodplains and creating a corridor for marine and terrestrial wildlife. Earth Economics calculated the total value of the wetlands at $249.6 million ($75.4 million at a 3 percent discount rate) over the 100-year lifespan of the bridge. The valuation includes the additional 400,000 chum salmon population due to the improved nursery function of the estuary, valued at $30 million to $109 million to Puget Sound residents.
The Value of Restoring Forested Wetlands: The Avahoula Climate Mitigation Project
The Value of Restoring Forested Wetlands: The Avahoula Climate Mitigation Project . Click to expand.
The Avahoula Climate Mitigation Project is a nature-positive investment by Delta Land Services and Pachama. The conversion of 7,200 acres of marginal agricultural land to forested wetland will create $80 million in benefits annually and protecting $2.7 billion in benefits in perpetuity (discounted at 3 percent) for 67,000 Louisiana residents and 46,000 tourists. By converting sub-optimal and climate vulnerable agricultural land to priority habitat, Avahoula mitigates climate change impacts and addresses the biodiversity crisis.
The Value of Restoring Forested Wetlands in Southeast Louisiana
The Value of Restoring Forested Wetlands in Southeast Louisiana. Click to expand.
The Belle Pointe Coastal Mitigation Bank is a 387-acre Wetland Mitigation Bank in Louisiana. The bank was previously agricultural land, which flooded frequently and required levees and pumping to remain productive. Delta Land Services permanently restored the site to a forested wetland, planting native coastal bottomland hardwood and bald cypress. The new ecosystem will support resiliency in the face of storm surge, trees will clean air and sequester carbon in one of the most polluted areas in the US, and water quality from agricultural and industrial/commercial runoff will improve. Earth Economics found that the total value in ecosystem services permanently protected by the project was $101 million (USD 2021)—$1,813 per person per year for nearby residents and students.
Principles for the Next Generation of Multi-benefit Projects
Principles for the Next Generation of Multi-benefit Projects. Click to expand.
This empirical research report explores collaborative approaches to developing multi-benefit infrastructure projects. Using evidence from Los Angeles County, this study identifies factors that contribute to project success, uncovers barriers to achieving project goals, and provides actionable next steps that government agencies can take to create the institutional conditions necessary for multi-benefit projects to be successful.
Expanding FEMA's Benefit Cost Analysis
Expanding FEMA's Benefit Cost Analysis . Click to expand.
Last spring, Earth Economics developed a thought experiment for Save the Sound of the Chittenden Park Living Shoreline project, to identify key limitations of FEMA’s BCA tools and processes. This project would implement nature-based erosion control designs to protect and restore the 155-acre seaward edge of the West River Marsh, which would in turn protect other assets (including built infrastructure) further inland. Securing FEMA support to restore the marsh would require the agency to consider the environment as critical natural infrastructure.
Resiliency Hubs for Participatory Disaster Preparedness
Resiliency Hubs for Participatory Disaster Preparedness. Click to expand.
WE STAY/ Nos Quedamos is a South Bronx-based Community Development Corporation founded in 1992 within the Melrose Commons Urban Renewal Area. Its mission is to engage, empower, and transform the marginalized communities of the South Bronx to help them remain and thrive. Nos Quedamos has brought over $500 million in investment to the area, including affordable housing for more than 4,000 families, infrastructure and broadband access, open space and parks, education and trade programs, environmental health, and social justice advocacy. Earth Economics partnered with Nos Quedamos to conducting an analysis of the benefits of three Resilience Hubs to help them as they further develop these social- and built-infrastructure hybrid solutions.
The Benefits of Green Infrastructure for Affordable Housing
The Benefits of Green Infrastructure for Affordable Housing. Click to expand.
Earth Economics, Groundwork USA, and Groundwork Hudson Valley have published “Green Stormwater Infrastructure for Affordable Housing in Yonkers, NY” based on the results of an ecosystem services valuation of Groundwork Hudson Valley’s Climate Safe Neighborhoods program.
Community-Designed Waterfront Green Space for The South Bronx
Community-Designed Waterfront Green Space for The South Bronx . Click to expand.
The Mott Haven-Port Morris Plan Waterfront Plan (“the Waterfront Plan”), developed through a community visioning process led by South Bronx Unite, aims to increase access to the local waterfront and create green spaces to improve quality-of-life, mitigate air pollution, create better health outcomes, and protect the community from flooding from coastal storms and sea level rise. Earth Economics, South Bronx Unite, and the Center for Sustainable Urban Development’s Resilient Coastal Communities Project collaborated to estimate the value of Waterfront Plan’s economic and community benefits.
Climate Change and Healing the Legacies of War
Climate Change and Healing the Legacies of War . Click to expand.
This year, with funding from the Ingrid Rasch Legacy Fund, Earth Economics was able to offer pro bono services to PeaceTrees Vietnam, mapping the impacts of environmental and climate change-related hazards to support their work in the humanitarian mine action space. Sea level rise, extreme precipitation, and ongoing development all increase risk exposure and shift mine locations.
The Benefits of Schoolyard Greening
The Benefits of Schoolyard Greening . Click to expand.
The mission of Amigos de los Rios is to create the “Emerald Necklace,” a network of green spaces, green schools, parks, and trails throughout under-served communities in the Los Angeles Basin. Focusing on equitable access to nature, Amigos de los Rios uses a whole-systems approach to watershed and social restoration. Earth Economics partnered with Amigos de los Rios to assess the social, environmental, and economic benefits of the Watershed Discovery Campus of Mary W. Jackson Elementary (Jackson Elementary) with generous support from the Ingrid Rasch Legacy Fund.
Accounting for Nature in FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Program
Accounting for Nature in FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Program . Click to expand.
Since 2013, we have supported FEMA as it has incorporated ecosystem service benefits of nature-based solutions into its Benefit-Cost Analysis Toolkit for hazard mitigation assistance applicants. This includes updates to FEMA’s baseline ecosystem service valuation estimates in 2016, 2020, and 2022, which expanded the variety of eligible landcover and green infrastructure project elements.
Nature's Value in Rangeland Conservation
Nature's Value in Rangeland Conservation . Click to expand.
Earth Economics partnered with Natural Resources Conservation Services to improve and expand the rangeland ecosystem service valuation framework, including the ecological effects of new conservation practices on the health of rangelands managed by the Bureau of Land Management within the Western Range and Irrigated Region of the Inner Basin West.
The Economic Impacts of Climate Change in Florida's Rural Agricultural Areas the Case of Hurricane Ian
The Economic Impacts of Climate Change in Florida's Rural Agricultural Areas the Case of Hurricane Ian . Click to expand.
Following Hurricane Ian (September, 2022), the Environmental Defense Fund of Florida hired Earth Economics to identify the complex impacts of hurricanes on tourism and agricultural sectors of the state’s rural economies. Hurricanes can make tourism destinations less desirable by damaging the amenities and infrastructure services. They often have broad impacts on agriculture, flooding fields, damaging crops, harming livestock, and critical infrastructure. Rural economies are disproportionately impacted, with negative effects persisting for several months after landfall.
Green Infrastructure Toolkit Updates
Green Infrastructure Toolkit Updates . Click to expand.
Green Infrastructure Jobs
Valuing Forest and Wetland Loss on Staten Island
Valuing Forest and Wetland Loss on Staten Island. Click to expand.
Earth Economics worked the Staten Island Coalition for Wetlands and Forests (an Anthropocene Alliance member group) to quantify the value of forest and wetland losses on Staten Island. The fact sheet, “Valuing Forest and Wetland Loss on Staten Island,” shows the scale of forest and wetland losses on Staten Island, focusing on the ecosystem services lost from the destruction of the Graniteville wetland.
Green Stormwater Infrastructure in Washington DC
Green Stormwater Infrastructure in Washington DC. Click to expand.
Earth Economics supported Green Compass, an aggregator in the DC Stormwater Retention Credit Trading Program, with an ecosystem services valuation of three green stormwater infrastructure sites and four proposed sites in the DC MS4. The study showed that the GSI deployments on average created $6 in co-benefits for every dollar invested.
Evaluating Cost Effectiveness of Nitrogen Control Interventions for Agricultural Operations
Evaluating Cost Effectiveness of Nitrogen Control Interventions for Agricultural Operations. Click to expand.
Earth Economics partnered with The Freshwater Trust and Jacobs Solutions to compare nitrogen interventions for point source and nonpoint source (NPS) nutrient control approaches in King County, WA on a dollar per pound of nitrogen basis. The final report produced from this project will be used by the county for planning technology implementation for water quality improvements to surface waters.
Akiptan
Akiptan. Click to expand.
Earth Economics collaborated with the CDFI, Akiptan, to track the impact of its investments in Native American farmers, evaluating outcomes from economic, equity, and ecological perspectives. The ecological benefits of the farms in their portfolio were then summarized to highlight their contributions.
The Value of Protecting and Restoring the Duckabush Estuary
In early 2023, Earth Economics conducted an ecosystem service valuation and jobs analysis of the Duckabush Estuary Restoration Project, a $120m infrastructure project, which will raise a causeway into a 1,600-foot full spanning bridge, reestablishing the estuary’s connection to neighboring floodplains and creating a corridor for marine and terrestrial wildlife. Earth Economics calculated the total value of the wetlands at $249.6 million ($75.4 million at a 3 percent discount rate) over the 100-year lifespan of the bridge. The valuation includes the additional 400,000 chum salmon population due to the improved nursery function of the estuary, valued at $30 million to $109 million to Puget Sound residents.
The Value of Restoring Forested Wetlands: The Avahoula Climate Mitigation Project
The Avahoula Climate Mitigation Project is a nature-positive investment by Delta Land Services and Pachama. The conversion of 7,200 acres of marginal agricultural land to forested wetland will create $80 million in benefits annually and protecting $2.7 billion in benefits in perpetuity (discounted at 3 percent) for 67,000 Louisiana residents and 46,000 tourists. By converting sub-optimal and climate vulnerable agricultural land to priority habitat, Avahoula mitigates climate change impacts and addresses the biodiversity crisis.
The Value of Restoring Forested Wetlands in Southeast Louisiana
The Belle Pointe Coastal Mitigation Bank is a 387-acre Wetland Mitigation Bank in Louisiana. The bank was previously agricultural land, which flooded frequently and required levees and pumping to remain productive. Delta Land Services permanently restored the site to a forested wetland, planting native coastal bottomland hardwood and bald cypress. The new ecosystem will support resiliency in the face of storm surge, trees will clean air and sequester carbon in one of the most polluted areas in the US, and water quality from agricultural and industrial/commercial runoff will improve. Earth Economics found that the total value in ecosystem services permanently protected by the project was $101 million (USD 2021)—$1,813 per person per year for nearby residents and students.
Principles for the Next Generation of Multi-benefit Projects
This empirical research report explores collaborative approaches to developing multi-benefit infrastructure projects. Using evidence from Los Angeles County, this study identifies factors that contribute to project success, uncovers barriers to achieving project goals, and provides actionable next steps that government agencies can take to create the institutional conditions necessary for multi-benefit projects to be successful.
Expanding FEMA's Benefit Cost Analysis
Last spring, Earth Economics developed a thought experiment for Save the Sound of the Chittenden Park Living Shoreline project, to identify key limitations of FEMA’s BCA tools and processes. This project would implement nature-based erosion control designs to protect and restore the 155-acre seaward edge of the West River Marsh, which would in turn protect other assets (including built infrastructure) further inland. Securing FEMA support to restore the marsh would require the agency to consider the environment as critical natural infrastructure.
Resiliency Hubs for Participatory Disaster Preparedness
WE STAY/ Nos Quedamos is a South Bronx-based Community Development Corporation founded in 1992 within the Melrose Commons Urban Renewal Area. Its mission is to engage, empower, and transform the marginalized communities of the South Bronx to help them remain and thrive. Nos Quedamos has brought over $500 million in investment to the area, including affordable housing for more than 4,000 families, infrastructure and broadband access, open space and parks, education and trade programs, environmental health, and social justice advocacy. Earth Economics partnered with Nos Quedamos to conducting an analysis of the benefits of three Resilience Hubs to help them as they further develop these social- and built-infrastructure hybrid solutions.
The Benefits of Green Infrastructure for Affordable Housing
Earth Economics, Groundwork USA , and Groundwork Hudson Valley have published “Green Stormwater Infrastructure for Affordable Housing in Yonkers, NY” based on the results of an ecosystem services valuation of Groundwork Hudson Valley’s Climate Safe Neighborhoods program.
Community-Designed Waterfront Green Space for The South Bronx
The Mott Haven-Port Morris Plan Waterfront Plan (“the Waterfront Plan”), developed through a community visioning process led by South Bronx Unite, aims to increase access to the local waterfront and create green spaces to improve quality-of-life, mitigate air pollution, create better health outcomes, and protect the community from flooding from coastal storms and sea level rise. Earth Economics, South Bronx Unite, and the Center for Sustainable Urban Development’s Resilient Coastal Communities Project collaborated to estimate the value of Waterfront Plan’s economic and community benefits.
Climate Change and Healing the Legacies of War
This year, with funding from the Ingrid Rasch Legacy Fund, Earth Economics was able to offer pro bono services to PeaceTrees Vietnam, mapping the impacts of environmental and climate change-related hazards to support their work in the humanitarian mine action space. Sea level rise, extreme precipitation, and ongoing development all increase risk exposure and shift mine locations.
The Benefits of Schoolyard Greening
The mission of Amigos de los Rios is to create the “Emerald Necklace,” a network of green spaces, green schools, parks, and trails throughout under-served communities in the Los Angeles Basin. Focusing on equitable access to nature, Amigos de los Rios uses a whole-systems approach to watershed and social restoration. Earth Economics partnered with Amigos de los Rios to assess the social, environmental, and economic benefits of the Watershed Discovery Campus of Mary W. Jackson Elementary (Jackson Elementary) with generous support from the Ingrid Rasch Legacy Fund.
Accounting for Nature in FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Program
Since 2013, we have supported FEMA as it has incorporated ecosystem service benefits of nature-based solutions into its Benefit-Cost Analysis Toolkit for hazard mitigation assistance applicants. This includes updates to FEMA’s baseline ecosystem service valuation estimates in 2016, 2020, and 2022, which expanded the variety of eligible landcover and green infrastructure project elements.
Nature's Value in Rangeland Conservation
Earth Economics partnered with Natural Resources Conservation Services to improve and expand the rangeland ecosystem service valuation framework, including the ecological effects of new conservation practices on the health of rangelands managed by the Bureau of Land Management within the Western Range and Irrigated Region of the Inner Basin West.
The Economic Impacts of Climate Change in Florida's Rural Agricultural Areas the Case of Hurricane Ian
Following Hurricane Ian (September, 2022), the Environmental Defense Fund of Florida hired Earth Economics to identify the complex impacts of hurricanes on tourism and agricultural sectors of the state’s rural economies. Hurricanes can make tourism destinations less desirable by damaging the amenities and infrastructure services. They often have broad impacts on agriculture, flooding fields, damaging crops, harming livestock, and critical infrastructure. Rural economies are disproportionately impacted, with negative effects persisting for several months after landfall.
Green Infrastructure Toolkit Updates
Green Infrastructure Jobs
This module provides estimates of the direct, indirect, induced, and total jobs supported by spending on green infrastructure projects (total project spending and annual O&M impacts). It also summarizes demographics of the unemployed population in the county where the project(s) are taking place.
Avoided Health Care Cost of Park-Supported Physical Inactivity
Public parks contribute to health and well-being largely by serving as an important venue for physical activity. This tool uses results from studies quantifying park use and park-based physical activity to estimate avoided health care costs of levels of physical activity that are inadequate to meet national guidelines.
Stormwater Capture Benefits
Green infrastructure (GI) installations capture precipitation and stormwater runoff from impervious areas that would otherwise need to be managed by urban stormwater systems. By managing stormwater runoff, GI installations help to 1) reduce the capital and O&M costs associated with managing stormwater using traditional infrastructure; 2) reduce carbon emissions from that traditional infrastructure, and 3) can even infiltrate that stormwater back into the ground for use by people. This module focuses on avoided carbon emissions, drought risk reduction, and avoided costs of grey stormwater management.
Valuing Forest and Wetland Loss on Staten Island
Earth Economics worked the Staten Island Coalition for Wetlands and Forests (an Anthropocene Alliance member group) to quantify the value of forest and wetland losses on Staten Island. The fact sheet, “Valuing Forest and Wetland Loss on Staten Island,” shows the scale of forest and wetland losses on Staten Island, focusing on the ecosystem services lost from the destruction of the Graniteville wetland.
Green Stormwater Infrastructure in Washington DC
Earth Economics supported Green Compass, an aggregator in the DC Stormwater Retention Credit Trading Program, with an ecosystem services valuation of three green stormwater infrastructure sites and four proposed sites in the DC MS4. The study showed that the GSI deployments on average created $6 in co-benefits for every dollar invested.
Read more
Evaluating Cost Effectiveness of Nitrogen Control Interventions for Agricultural Operations
Earth Economics partnered with The Freshwater Trust and Jacobs Solutions to compare nitrogen interventions for point source and nonpoint source (NPS) nutrient control approaches in King County, WA on a dollar per pound of nitrogen basis. The final report produced from this project will be used by the county for planning technology implementation for water quality improvements to surface waters.
Akiptan
Earth Economics collaborated with the CDFI, Akiptan, to track the impact of its investments in Native American farmers, evaluating outcomes from economic, equity, and ecological perspectives. The ecological benefits of the farms in their portfolio were then summarized to highlight their contributions.
Analysis Highlights
Amigos de Los Rios
The mission of Amigos de los Rios is to create the “Emerald Necklace,” a network of green spaces, green schools, parks, and trails throughout under-served communities in the Los Angeles Basin. Focusing on equitable access to nature, Amigos de los Rios uses a whole-systems approach to watershed and social restoration. Earth Economics partnered with Amigos de los Rios to assess the social, environmental, and economic benefits of the Watershed Discovery Campus of Mary W. Jackson Elementary (Jackson Elementary) with generous support from the Ingrid Rasch Legacy Fund.
Climate Change and Healing the Legacies of War
This year, with funding from the Ingrid Rasch Legacy Fund, Earth Economics was able to offer pro bono services to PeaceTrees Vietnam, mapping the impacts of environmental and climate change-related hazards to support their work in the humanitarian mine action space. Sea level rise, extreme precipitation, and ongoing development all increase risk exposure and shift mine locations.
Financials
Now more than ever, we are committed to our vision of a future where the wellbeing of people and the natural world are central to all economic decision-making. Together, we can shape a more sustainable and resilient future.
Thank you for your continued support.
