Ecosystem Service Markets: Everyone’s Business

February 27, 2007
The Westin Galleria
5060 West Alabama
Houston, TX 77056

Sponsored by the following: Texas Forest Service, USDA Forest Service, TEXAS A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources, Greater Houston Partnership, Houston Advanced Research Center, Conservation Capital, Ltd.

As businesses, government, universities, and the non-profit sector strive to understand and apply new concepts of “sustainable development,” a recurring theme is the inability of market forces to prevent the fragmentation of functioning ecosystems.  The economic importance of healthy, functioning ecosystems is widely recognized.  Wetlands purify our streams and ground water and assimilate our wastes.  Estuaries mitigate the impact of storms and floods.  Forests provide timber and fiber for human use while stabilizing our climate and providing habitat for plants and animals.

Can society find practical ways to incentivize, through market mechanisms, the protection of functioning ecosystems?  This conference will focus on the scientific, public policy, and economic foundations of emerging markets for “ecosystem services.” 

Topics

• What is an “ecosystem service”?
• Who might buy such a service?
• Who might be able to sell such a service?
• How can the market be used to establish values and prices for ecosystem services? Case studies will be discussed.
• How can service delivery be measured and ensured over time?
• What is the current state of the market for ecosystem services?
• Where is the market going?
• What is the state of science that underlies this evolving market?

Leaders in government, business, academia, and the non-profit sector need to address these critical issues proactively.  Mainstreaming market-based ecosystem service transactions is challenging because of fragmented government rules and policies, difficult property rights issues, and the complexities of matching supply and demand.  This conference will bring together industry representatives, private landowners, government leaders, university researchers, and non-profit organizations to discuss economic-based approaches to protecting ecosystems—strategies that employ a carefully considered combination of enforceable regulatory constraints on ecosystem impairment and meaningful economic incentives for ecosystem conservation.