Great Lakes Ecosystem Services Valuation: A Scoping Study

Based on the outcomes of the literature review, the input provided by subject matter experts during the Great Lakes Ecosystem Services Valuation workshop, and the contractor team’s recommendations, the work group provides the following recommendations for the IJC’s consideration in planning a future primary valuation study. [...] For example, among the responsibilities laid out for the IJC in the GLWQA are: (c) tendering advice and recommendation to the Parties on the following: (i) the social, economic and environmental aspects of current and emerging issues related to the quality of the Waters of the Great Lakes … (h) engaging with the Public to increase awareness of the inherent value of the Waters of the Great Lakes, o. [...] Geographic scale of project impact: The sample frame for the Stage 2 study should be as representative as possible of the geographic and demographic variability within the Great Lakes to increase the applicability of the data produced to a wide range of future management decisions throughout the basin. [...] The work group believes that by helping to better understand the value of coastal wetlands ecosystem services, the Stage 2 study will support the goals of the GLWQA by enabling better decision-making that leads to improved water quality and healthier ecosystems in the Great Lakes and achieve the objectives of supporting healthy and productive wetlands and other habitats to sustain resilient popula. [...] The work group recommends that the IJC SAB assign a small group to the task of developing a proposal for a primary valuation study of the nutrient sequestration benefits of coastal wetlands in the Great Lakes that has the following features: 1.