Database of biodiversity, habitat, and aquatic-resource quantification tools used in market-based conservation — 2022 update

Market-based conservation makes use of economic incentives to promote actions that avoid, minimize, or compensate for detrimental effects on natural resources and the environment. Examples of market-based conservation mechanisms include aquatic-resource (such as, streams, wetlands, and estuaries) compensatory mitigation, conservation banking, habitat exchanges, and payments for ecosystem services. A critical component in the operation of these market-based conservation mechanisms is the methods (hereafter referred to as “quantification tools”) used to assess existing (sometimes referred to as “baseline”) or potential site conditions. Quantification tools are used to assign values to the benefits provided by preservation, restoration, or enhancement actions, as well as the negative effects of human activities (for example, infrastructure development, energy extraction, and anthropogenic disasters).

In 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published a database describing the attributes of 69 quantification tools developed for United States conservation markets. The database focused on tools used for species-based mitigation, payments for ecosystem services, and ecolabel programs (Chiavacci and Pindilli, 2020). Recently, the USGS, in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, revised the original database by updating the existing tool information, adding newly developed tools, and broadening the scope to include tools developed for compensatory mitigation under the Clean Water Act Section 404 Regulatory Program.