Applying InVEST to Existing Policy Contexts

An ecosystem services approach seeks to integrate ecosystem services into decision making by:

- using scientific assessment tools to understand people's dependence and impact on the services provided by ecosystems
- applying policy mechanisms that incorporate ecosystem service values into the decisions made by governments, businesses, NGOs and individuals.

InVEST has been used in more than ten places around the world, proving a useful tool for decision making. Here we provide guidance on how the current Tier 1 version of InVEST can be used at each typical step of strategic environmental assessment, marine spatial planning, payments for watershed services, poverty reduction strategies, carbon offsets, and mitigation and offset programs.

Strategic environmental assessment

SEAs are analytical and participatory approaches that aim to integrate environmental considerations into policies, plans, and programs, and to evaluate the links with economic and social considerations. SEAs are broader in scope and enable earlier and more proactive consideration of environmental considerations than Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), typically applied to projects.

Integrating ecosystem services and their societal values into SEA can help demonstrate the social, economic and financial reasons for environmentally sustainable policies. Considering a broad range of ecosystem services helps ensure an SEA includes a comprehensive and balanced assessment of environmental impacts and considers the trade-offs of alternative options.

SEAs are increasingly institutionalized within government decision-making, particularly in developed countries. With this increasing global uptake, SEA provides an existing and powerful process for embedding the scientific results of InVEST analyses in planning and policy. InVEST can help support an SEA by identifying how policies, plans and programs can meet multiple goals and guiding selection of the best alternatives.

Marine spatial planning

Marine spatial planning is a process for analyzing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives.

In the past, marine management practices have often been ineffective because they optimize for a single target species and disregard habitat, non-target species, and how people interact with the environment. EBM attempts to address these weaknesses by considering multiple spatial and temporal scales, linking ecosystems and communities, connecting management efforts across air, land and sea boundaries, and engaging meaningfully with stakeholders.

InVEST can inform an ecosystem-based approach to marine spatial planning processes by examining likely changes in a suite of ecosystem services provided by marine and coastal regions under different management alternatives.

Payments for watershed services

PWS are a type of payments for ecosystem services (PES) that focus on hydrological services, such as flood control, regulation of water supply, water purification, and erosion control. PES are contractual and voluntary transactions where a 'buyer' agrees to provide ‘payment’ to a ‘seller’ conditional on delivery of an ecosystem service, or implementation of a land use or management practice likely to secure that service. PWS create financial incentives to protect, restore, or sustain ecosystem services provided by watersheds.

Establishing PWS often takes years, requiring extensive stakeholder engagement to build trust and commitment. Classic cases of PWS include the system established by New York City (USA) in the Catskills Mountains and the Quito Water Fund (FONAG) in Ecuador. Activities subsidized by PWS can include restoring wetlands and maintaining native vegetation. While there is still debate on whether PES are an efficient way to improve or maintain ecosystem services and biodiversity, interest in establishing PES is growing rapidly.

InVEST can help support the design and implementation of PWS programs by identifying whether and how payments can meet multiple goals, determining where to distribute payments or establish new programs, and improving the efficiency of investments. In some cases, InVEST can also help select among management options, based on the ecosystem service returns.

Poverty Reduction Strategies

A PRSP is a strategy document describing a country's macroeconomic, structural, and social policies, and programs to promote economic growth and reduce poverty. A PRSP shapes some of the most influential national public policies, affecting budgetary priorities and sectoral plans. Since 1999, developing country governments prepare PRSPs as part of the process of applying for World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans. The PRSP framework was designed to enhance the effectiveness of actions by countries and donors in reducing poverty.

Integrating ecosystem services into PRSPs provides a powerful route to mainstream poverty-environment linkages into national and sectoral policies, plans and programs. Environmental degradation can exacerbate poverty in many important ways: increasing vulnerability to natural hazards, reducing access to fuel and food, and creating health risks. The World Bank itself notes the need to incorporate the environment into PRSPs. Nevertheless, environmental issues are still rarely considered in depth.

InVEST can help support the integration of environmental considerations into PRSPs by identifying how ecosystem services benefit the poor and guiding selection of policies that sustain these benefits.

Carbon offsets

Voluntary carbon markets involve the buying and selling of carbon credits by organizations and individuals to offset their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and limit their contribution to climate change. A carbon credit represents an additional ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestered or not emitted. The voluntary carbon market is not regulated, and the credits are not used to meet any legally binding targets. However, various standards have been developed to assess the quality of carbon offsets and develop buyer confidence in the market.

The voluntary market offers many land-based offsets that involve reforestation, agroforestry or reduced deforestation. Deforestation and other land use conversions account for 30 percent of GHG emissions. Reducing land-based emissions can be a cost-effective method of addressing climate change. Land-based carbon projects often provide benefits in addition to carbon sequestration, such as biodiversity conservation, diversification of agriculture, soil and water protection, employment, and ecotourism.

InVEST can help support land-based carbon offset projects by identifying how and where these ‘co-benefits’ from carbon investments can be maximized. Such information can be used to guide the selection of projects for investment, improve the efficiency of chosen projects and estimate the likely level of co-benefits, possibly allowing entry into a niche market for environmentally-friendly carbon offsets.

Mitigation and offsets

Biodiversity offsets are conservation actions intended to compensate for the residual, unavoidable harm to biodiversity caused by development projects, so as to ensure no net loss of biodiversity. There is still debate over whether offsets discourage avoidance and mitigation of harmful biodiversity impacts. Further controversies occur over whether offsets lead to an overall loss of biodiversity and cause an unfair redistribution of benefits among stakeholders. Nevertheless, interest in biodiversity offsets is growing along with interest in expanding offsets to include ecosystem services.

Offset programs can be expanded to include actions that compensate for loss of ecosystem services, such as erosion control and water purification. Offsets follow a mitigation hierarchy, where harmful impacts are preferably avoided, then mitigated, and finally offset.

InVEST can help support the design and implementation of offset projects by identifying whether projects are likely to degrade ecosystem services, guiding selection of offset locations, and improving the efficiency of offset activities.

Toolbox

Life-Support Systems (Ecosystem Services) provide: