[CONVERSATION] Adam Davis // Mitigation Banking Future Ecologies
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- Nature
In this Q&A follow-up to FE5.6, we're digging even deeper into the practice of Mitigation Banking, where ecosystem restoration (and nature itself) may be a profitable investment at scale.
While that episode was effectively a monologue for storytelling and stylistic reasons, this conversation gets into the weeds of offsetting, how credits are assessed and monitored, land trusts and permanent stewardship easements, intersections with real estate and Indigenous land back, permitting and project impacts, and Adam Davis's philosophy vis-à-vis capitalism.
And of course, you'll hear from Adam (Huggins) in his professional capacity as a practicing restorationist at the Galiano Conservancy Association.
Big thanks to everyone who submitted questions! We hope your holidays are peaceful.
Adam D. provided a few links for further reading:
- Avery, C. (2023) Draft Prospectus for the First National Nature Assessment. US Dept. of the Interior
- Cleaver, J. (2023) Tribes place generational wealth in their own hands. Investment News
EPA (2023) California Creates Rapid Assessment Method for Wetland Protection
- Prabhakar, A., Revesz, R. (2023) Accounting for Ecosystem Services in Benefit-Cost Analysis. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
- Rahman, S. et al. (2022) A New National Strategy to Reflect Natural Assets on America’s Balance Sheet. White House Office of Management and Budget
Below are the mentioned studies critical of mitigation restoration project outcomes and success trajectories (shout out to Yank)
- Ballantine, K., Schneider, R. (2009) Fifty-Five Years of Soil Development in Restored Freshwater Depressional Wetlands. Ecological Applications. (19) 6, pp. 1467-1480
- Hill, T. et al (2013) Compensatory Stream and Wetland Mitigation in North Carolina: An Evaluation of Regulatory Success. Environmental Management. 51, pp. 1077–1091 DOI 10.1007/s00267-013-0027-7
- Hossler, K., Bouchard, V. (2010) Soil development and establishment of carbon-based properties in created freshwater marshes. Ecological Applications, 20(2), pp. 539–553. DOI DOI 10.1890/08-1330.1
- Robertson, M., Galatowitsch, S., Matthews, J. (2018) Longitudinal evaluation of vegetation richness and cover at wetland compensation sites: implications for regulatory monitoring under the Clean Water Act. Wetlands Ecol Manage, 26, pp. 1089–1105 DOI 10.1007/s11273-018-9633-8
- Van den Bosch, K., Matthews, J. (2017) An Assessment of Long-Term Compliance with Performance Standards in Compensatory Mitigation Wetlands. Environmental Management, 59:546–556 DOI 10.1007/s00267-016-0804-1
- Xu, S. et al (2019) Soil organic carbon changes following wetland restoration: A global meta-analysis. Geoderma, 353, pp. 89-96. DOI 10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.06.027
In this Q&A follow-up to FE5.6, we're digging even deeper into the practice of Mitigation Banking, where ecosystem restoration (and nature itself) may be a profitable investment at scale.
While that episode was effectively a monologue for storytelling and stylistic reasons, this conversation gets into the weeds of offsetting, how credits are assessed and monitored, land trusts and permanent stewardship easements, intersections with real estate and Indigenous land back, permitting and project impacts, and Adam Davis's philosophy vis-à-vis capitalism.
And of course, you'll hear from Adam (Huggins) in his professional capacity as a practicing restorationist at the Galiano Conservancy Association.
Big thanks to everyone who submitted questions! We hope your holidays are peaceful.
Adam D. provided a few links for further reading:
- Avery, C. (2023) Draft Prospectus for the First National Nature Assessment. US Dept. of the Interior
- Cleaver, J. (2023) Tribes place generational wealth in their own hands. Investment News
EPA (2023) California Creates Rapid Assessment Method for Wetland Protection
- Prabhakar, A., Revesz, R. (2023) Accounting for Ecosystem Services in Benefit-Cost Analysis. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
- Rahman, S. et al. (2022) A New National Strategy to Reflect Natural Assets on America’s Balance Sheet. White House Office of Management and Budget
Below are the mentioned studies critical of mitigation restoration project outcomes and success trajectories (shout out to Yank)
- Ballantine, K., Schneider, R. (2009) Fifty-Five Years of Soil Development in Restored Freshwater Depressional Wetlands. Ecological Applications. (19) 6, pp. 1467-1480
- Hill, T. et al (2013) Compensatory Stream and Wetland Mitigation in North Carolina: An Evaluation of Regulatory Success. Environmental Management. 51, pp. 1077–1091 DOI 10.1007/s00267-013-0027-7
- Hossler, K., Bouchard, V. (2010) Soil development and establishment of carbon-based properties in created freshwater marshes. Ecological Applications, 20(2), pp. 539–553. DOI DOI 10.1890/08-1330.1
- Robertson, M., Galatowitsch, S., Matthews, J. (2018) Longitudinal evaluation of vegetation richness and cover at wetland compensation sites: implications for regulatory monitoring under the Clean Water Act. Wetlands Ecol Manage, 26, pp. 1089–1105 DOI 10.1007/s11273-018-9633-8
- Van den Bosch, K., Matthews, J. (2017) An Assessment of Long-Term Compliance with Performance Standards in Compensatory Mitigation Wetlands. Environmental Management, 59:546–556 DOI 10.1007/s00267-016-0804-1
- Xu, S. et al (2019) Soil organic carbon changes following wetland restoration: A global meta-analysis. Geoderma, 353, pp. 89-96. DOI 10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.06.027