Natural Asset Marketing
Once natural asset inventories are complete, decisions have been made about which management options to implement, and implementation is underway, our clients often want to know how they can monetize natural assets.
In other words, how to convert ecosystem services into real dollars to support communities and ecosystems.
A common example is carbon credits, which can be traded in carbon markets. As part of this emerging service area at ESSA, we are helping our clients market their natural assets and identify the most appropriate portfolio of conservation financing mechanisms tailored to their needs. For example, portfolios might include some combination of government revenue sharing, grants, carbon trading, or payments for ecosystem services.
Marketing ecosystem services requires a strategic implementation plan that prioritizes which services to monetize and lays out the steps required to bring them to market in a sustainable and consistent fashion over the long-term. These plans typically need to consider the quantity of different services at the parcel level (see Natural Asset Inventory [Link to Service Area]), as well as marginal abatement costs (i.e., financial gain per protected unit area of forest, given lost timber sales revenue and the current market price for carbon credits), and the accessibility of different markets.
Our services in this space include:
- developing conservation financing portfolios by helping clients identify which combinations of conservation financing options best meet their interests given the range of natural assets in their land holdings
- developing natural asset marketing plans to increase awareness of our client’s natural assets and the services they provide, and outline priority steps required to bring those assets to market in different credit trading systems
Key projects showcasing these services: