Oregon Marketplace: Analysis

The following analysis will provide context to the terms that are often used in discussing an ecosystem marketplace, some background on how this concept has gained attention in Oregon, particularly in the Willamette Basin, a synopsis of opportunities that make implementation feasible, and a summary of the limitations that could hinder implementation if they are not adequately addressed.

Terminology

For purposes of this paper, terms will be defined as follows:

Ecosystem Services:(2)

This paper will use the one of the broader definitions(3) associated with the concept of ecosystem services: the conditions and processes through which natural ecosystems, and the species that make them up, sustain and fulfill human life.” These conditions and processes can include purifying air and water, enhancing fish and wildlife habitat, mitigating droughts and floods, and regulating climate;(4)

Multi-Credit Ecosystem Marketplace:

A centralized system of buying and selling multiple types of environmental services, both for regulatory (mitigation requirements) and non-regulatory (voluntary) purposes;

Multi-Credit Trading:

The actual process of buying and selling credits created through the restoration and conservation of ecosystem services;

Multi-Credit (or multi-function) Banks:

The land and restoration/conservation projects that can generate credits for regulatory and non-regulatory purposes, including conservation of wetlands and habitat, water quality, carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services.
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2. There will be a distinction made between ecosystem "goods" and "services" because, traditionally, markets have placed numerical values on "ecosystem goods," such as timber and agricultural crops, but not for "services." This is because, historically, ecosystem services were "free" because they were public goods and were abundant.  However, with an ever increasing consumptive world population, it has become apparent that these public goods have limits and need to be "valued" so that they are adequately preserved.

3. Please note that this definition relates to an ecological perspective; for purposes of analyzing economic value, there is often a distinction made between "functions" and "services."

4. Geoffrey Heal et al., Protecting Natural Capital Through Ecosystem Service Districts, 20 Stan. Envtl. L.J. 333, 336 (May 2001)(citing John Peterson Myers, Nature's Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems 3 (Gretchen C. Daily ed., 1997).

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Background
The Willamette Partnership and other stakeholders who are dedicated to increasing the pace and effectiveness of conservation in Oregon.