National Ecosystem Services Partnership Offers Resources for Advancing Sustainable Approaches

Recent work focuses on nature-based solutions, natural capital accounting, natural and working lands, and more

Duke University experts will discuss resources available from the National Ecosystem Services Partnership (NESP) at the 2022 A Community on Ecosystem Services (ACES) conference Dec. 12–15 in Arlington, VA.

NESP—an initiative of Duke’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability—engages more than 2,000 public and private sector stakeholders to enhance collaboration within the ecosystem services community and strengthen coordination of policy, market implementation, and research at the national level. NESP’s research, products, and regular webinars help advance innovative, sustainable approaches to managing natural resources. 

Selected NESP Resources

Publications

Tracking the Benefits of Natural & Working Lands in the United States: Dataset Evaluation and Readiness Assessment 

Sea Level Rise Drives Carbon and Habitat Loss in the US Mid-Atlantic Coastal Zone

Testing Ecosystem Accounting in the United States: A Case Study for the Southeast

A Practice-Oriented Approach to Foster Private Landowner Participation in Ecosystem Service Conservation and Restoration at a Landscape Scale

Exploring the Use of Ecosystem Services Conceptual Models to Account for the Benefit of Public Lands: An Example from National Forest Planning in the United States

Connecting Ecosystem Services Science and Policy in the Field

Mapping Ecosystem Services for the Southeast United States:
► Conservation and Restoration Priorities for Wild Pollinator Habitat
► Conservation Priorities for Recreational Birding
► Conservation Priorities for Open Space Recreation Access

Tools & Guidance

Online Toolkit for Natural Resource Managers. Offers a flexible, standardized, intuitive, and credible ecosystem services framework. Centered on a set of Ecosystem Services Conceptual Models, offering an entry point for incorporating a suite of ecosystem services considerations into programs/projects in forests, coastal, or agricultural systems.

Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Services Logic Models & Socioeconomic Indicators (GEMS). Stakeholders from across the Gulf of Mexico cocreated logic models that show pathways for linking over 20 different coastal restoration project types to social and economic outcomes.

North Carolina Natural and Working Lands. Three interactive dashboards allow users to quickly and easily quantify current and potential benefits from forests, farmlands, and wetlands in the state. Also available: a guide for states interested in developing their own action plan.

Federal Resource Management and Ecosystem Services (FRMES) Guidebook. Online guide for incorporating ecosystem services into agency planning processes. Accompanying resource: Data and Modeling Infrastructure for National Integration of Ecosystem Services into Decision Making.

Data sets related to NESP publications and resources:

► Data used to create the pilot ecosystem accounts for the Southeast 
► Projections of future coastal habitat changes due to sea level rise and associated carbon changes for six mid-Atlantic states
► Opportunity assessment for carbon and resilience benefits on natural and working lands in North Carolina

Webinars

Nature-Based Solutions: Current Issues. In this ongoing series, explore current issues for nature-based solutions, discover promising practices, and hear from experts working in this field.

Natural Capital Accounts in the US. Learn about pilot accounts for land, water, ecosystems, and urban ecosystem services and get examples of policy applications.

Equity and Ecosystem Services (Part 1 and Part 2). Discover different ways that members of the NESP community have addressed the interplay between equity and ecosystem services.

Choosing Ecosystem Services Valuation Methods for Cost-Benefit Analysis. Hear about the results of over a decade of ecosystem services valuation work in Minnesota and lessons that can be applied to valuation methodologies.