ECOSEL, an online market-based tool for monetizing ecosystem services: Pack Forest A Case Study

Background/Question/Methods

Forestland provides multiple ecosystem services with intensive extraction of wood products potentially diminishing the provision of those services.  We use the 1740 ha University of Washington’s Pack Forest to describe the application of an auction-based mechanism to monetize ecosystem services associated with forest management plans of varying intensity.  The Forest Vegetation Simulator was used to model stand-level forest growth response for a 30-year planning horizon with different silvicultural treatments, each potentially implemented at 5-year intervals. Multi-criteria optimization modeling was used to determine the net present value, C sequestration, and additional hectares of mature forest habitat provided by competing harvest scenarios.  Post-optimization Bayesian belief network habitat models were also used to assess the probability of suitable habitat for several guilds of species.

Results/Conclusions

All management scenarios increase habitat reserves and C sequestration compared to the existing management plan.  The profit maximizing scenario occurred with a 45-year rotation clearcut; this scenario also increased average stand age and standing forest C through model constraints.  The competing harvest scenarios are described by their cost in foregone revenue (relative to a clearcut baseline), wildlife habitat provided, and C sequestered.  Greater wildlife habitat and C sequestration are associated with less-intensive harvest practices but resulted in foregone timber revenue.  A management plan based on the Forest Stewardship Council’s Pacific Coast Standard (retaining 10 or 30% of the basal area, with green-up and harvest size restrictions) on a 65-year rotation foregoes $1.7 million in net present value (NPV) of timber revenue, provides no difference in C sequestration, and produces 17% more forest bat habitat than the clearcut scenario.  A thinning only scenario forgoes $6.4 million NPV but produces 117 Gg additional C and 72% more forest bat habitat.  An auction process using model outputs and the online ECOSEL platform to monetize the ecosystem services produced for various amounts of foregone revenue will be described.  A real auction is being prepared for Pack Forest where a management plan and its associated ecosystem services will be implemented if a sufficient sum of bids can be accumulated to exceed the reserve price.  The mechanism provides a potential new way to increase ecosystem services.