Final Report August 10, 2009 — The Value of BC's Grasslands: Exploring Ecosystem Values and Incentives for Conservation
Submitted to Grasslands Conservation Council of British Columbia
By Sara J. Wilson
From the Synthesis (Conclusion):
"Grasslands in BC are key ecosystems that provide numerous ecosystem services that benefit local communities, as well as regional and global processes. These services include annual carbon uptake as well as long term carbon storage that help stabilize the earth’s climate, soil formation and soil erosion prevention, grazing for cattle, and water regulation.
Accounting for the natural capital provided by B.C.’s grasslands will provide invaluable information on the ecosystem services provided as well as estimates of their socio-economic value for communities. In addition, such information will be essential to prepare and take advantage of the emerging markets for carbon and biodiversity offsets.
The Grasslands Conservation Council is well placed to undertake an assessment of the ecosystem goods and services provided by grasslands in B.C. They have developed their own geographically-referenced data specifically for grassland data analysis. Access to high quality ecological data that can be used for spatial analysis is often the largest hurdle to overcome in terms of an assessment of natural capital and ecosystem services."