Managing natural wealth: Research and implementation of ecosystem services in the United States and Canada

The United States and Canada have vast stores of ecological wealth that provide often unseen but critical benefits to the people and economy of each country. The close ties between ecology and the economy make it urgent that action is taken to address the risks of ecosystem degradation, but these close ties also present opportunities to develop new incentives for ecosystem conservation. To highlight the diversity of approaches being implemented in the US and Canada, we describe examples of programs seeking to maintain ecosystem services from wetlands, agricultural lands, forests, and water quality. Corporations are also beginning to account for ecosystem service values. Innovative solutions are being developed mostly within existing government and corporate policies that allow for ecosystem service accounting. To further mainstream ecosystem service values into broader economic decisions, new policies are necessary that not only allow but mandate their inclusion in decisions and reporting.