Ecosystem Services— A New Way of Looking at the Landscape
Indoor presentation Wednesday March 17, 7:00 P.M. Seaside Public Library
Field program Saturday March 20, 10:00 A.M., Neawanna Point, North Seaside
Seaside, Ore.- Nature provides many services to us, like clean air, clean water, wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, and reduced flood damage. Recently, economists and ecologists began documenting the monetary value that these processes provide to communities, and the concept of ecosystem services was born. Markets for these natural services are beginning to emerge, and one day landowners in Oregon coastal communities may be able to sell ecosystem services to voluntary or regulated buyers to help maintain profitability and preserve natural areas, farms and forests. The 2009 Oregon Legislature approved SB 513, the first ecosystem markets bill in the country. It sets the stage for a series of policy reforms that should make it easier for landowners to access these markets.
On Wednesday March 17 at 7 p.m. at the Seaside Public Library, Listening to the Land presents Sara Vickerman, senior director of biodiversity partnerships for Defenders of Wildlife, who will speak about the concept of ecosystem services and how they could provide both ecological and economic benefit to Oregon's North Coast. Come learn more, and offer your ideas about how to make this program function effectively. The Seaside Library is located at 1131 Broadway in Seaside.
Ms. Vickerman is an award-winning advocate for biodiversity who has served two terms on the Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission. She was a member of the Northwest Council of the President's Council on Sustainable Development, and served on the board of Sustainable Northwest. She is currently a member of the Oregon Sustainability Board, a member of the advisory board for the Institute for Natural Resources at Oregon State University and serves on the advisory committee for the Wildlife Habitat Policy Research Program, administered by the National Council on Science and the Environment and funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. She is also on the advisory committee for the Doris Duke Foundations Conservation Opportunities Fund, and serves on the board for the American Forest Foundation.
Then on Saturday March 20 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., join Katie Voelke, Executive Director for North Coast Land Conservancy at Neawanna Point on the Necanicum Estuary [map] for an on the ground look at what natural services the landscape there is providing to our coastal communities, and discuss what the green infrastucture of our coastal bioregion could look like. Dress for the weather, and please leave your pets at home.
Listening to the Land is a series of evening presentations and related outdoor excursions that highlight our amazing coastal ecosystem sponsored by the Necanicum Watershed Council and North Coast Land Conservancy. Presentations take place on the third Wednesday of the month from October through April at the Seaside Library. These programs will open your eyes- and ears- to our unique coastal landscape.
The Necanicum Watershed Council is a group of community stakeholders and volunteers working together to ensure the health of the Necanicum Watershed ecosystem. North Coast Land Conservancy has worked since 1986 to serve as a resource for Northwest coastal communities and landowners to conserve and protect land in perpetuity for its ecological and cultural values.
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