October 16th, 2015
Via the Wall Street Journal, an interesting report on how habitat exchanges are bringing the ‘sharing economy’ to conservation:
For too long, the Endangered Species Act has served as an emergency room for at-risk wildlife. By the time a species arrives on the endangered list, it’s too far along in its decline to be saved without intensive and expensive treatment that could have been avoided with preventative care.
That’s what is so remarkable about the Interior Department’s recent decision not to list the greater sage grouse. Thanks to foresight, planning and collaboration across multiple industries and 11 Western states, the bird dodged a trip to the ER and the region’s two biggest economic engines—energy and agriculture—avoided the strict land-use restrictions that typically accompany endangered-species listings.
The species will be on the mend for years to come, and industry and landowners will have to live up to agreements to conserve sage-grouse habitat to facilitate the population’s recovery. But the pre-emptive effort signaled an overdue shift in the way we think about conservation.
The Endangered Species Act is necessary, but it is also a last resort. To ensure healthy wildlife populations and a healthy economy, we must initiate care much sooner and the prescription must be collaborative.
Human development and climate change are taking their toll on America’s wildlife. More than 250 species await listing decisions under the Endangered Species Act, and there simply aren’t enough national parks and wildlife refuges in the U.S. to house them. Though there is a lively debate about how best to protect species on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, most wildlife is on privately owned land. Buying that land or taking it out of production is neither feasible nor advisable.
So how do we tap those private lands—which account for 70% of the lower 48—for wildlife stewardship? We crowdsource it, pooling funds to help landowners across the country sustain wildlife habitat, and reward those who step up voluntarily.
In collaboration with ranchers, developers, academics and state resource agencies, the Environmental Defense Fund (the organization I head) is pioneering a new solution to tackle the species crisis—habitat exchanges, which bring the “sharing economy” to conservation.
Think of it as an Airbnb for wildlife. Just as the online company Airbnb allows homeowners to get paid for opening a spare bedroom to travelers, habitat exchanges allow landowners to get paid for providing quality habitat for vulnerable wildlife. The revenue is supplied by infrastructure, energy and other developers, which need to mitigate the environmental impact of their projects. But concerned individuals, nongovernmental organizations or corporations can also share in the cost, donating funds to an exchange.
Habitat exchanges unlock the potential of farmers, ranchers and forest owners to become conservation heroes without taking their land out of production or signing it over to the government. Developers benefit from a predictable value for the mitigation credits they buy and a standard set of rules that ensure projects move forward.
We’re in the early stages, but habitat exchanges are gaining momentum. In Colorado, Gov. John Hickenlooper’s administration helped to develop an exchange for sage grouse that is expected to launch by the end of this year. Nevada is beta testing its version of a sage-grouse exchange, and a citizen group, the Wyoming Conservation Exchange, has developed a proposal for sage grouse and mule deer. This group has already hired an administrator to manage the market as soon as it is approved by federal and state regulators.
In 2006, an earlier version of the habitat-exchange idea worked to recover golden-cheeked warblers in Texas and allow the U.S. Army to continue military exercises. In California, a consortium of state agencies and NGOs is hoping to launch an exchange in 2016 that will allow water and transportation developers to purchase credits from farmers who maintain habitat for Swainson’s hawk, Chinook salmon and riparian songbirds. And the Environmental Defense Fund is developing a habitat exchange for the monarch butterfly.
Though it would be ideal to set aside enough habitat to ensure the survival of the nation’s critters, practically speaking we can’t. The best alternative is to share resources so everyone wins.
The early adoption of habitat exchanges is a positive sign that crowdsourced conservation is no longer in the concept stage. It’s ready for prime time.
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