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Chuck Darwin

:
Use Nature as Infrastructure

Wetlands, coastal plains, sand dunes, forests, and many other do cheaply (or even for free) what engineered levees, seawalls and pumps do at a cost of billions of dollars.

They protect the land around them from storm surge, flooding rains, erosion and pollution. They are vital infrastructure that makes us more resilient against climate change, and the cost of destroying them or weakening their ability to function must be factored into the decisions we make to build and grow.

To do so, the economic to develop any natural landscape should be weighed against the protective economic that land already provides.

Economists call this an “avoided damage” valuation. Local planning boards might consider the value of a sand dune, oyster reef or swamp in flood protection versus the expense of replacing it with a seawall and water pump system.

How do these “ecosystem services” fare against the cost of, say, 30 years of emergency operations, utility failures and repeated rebuilding?
Maintaining and restoring to support healthy functioning saves money, time and lives.

scientificamerican.com/article

Scientific AmericanUse Nature as InfrastructureIn the climate crisis, wetlands have more economic value than new development
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