WEBINAR: Texan by Nature Return on Conservation? Report

This June, Texan by Nature released The Return on Conservation? Report (ROC? Report), a groundbreaking analysis confirming that conservation investments in Texas provide substantial financial benefits.

How do you measure the total economic impact of conservation work?

TxN defines Return on Conservation? value as “the total return realized by investing in conservation, encompassing all variables– financial, human, and natural resources.” Beyond protecting acres and saving gallons of water, local conservation efforts provide ecosystem services that result in cleaner air, healthier habitats, more abundant water supplies, stable supply chains, and healthier communities. The ROC? Report evaluates ecosystem service variables such as biodiversity, carbon sequestration uplift, tourism, job creation, and more.

Working with partners across the state and using publicly available financial data, we identified that $639 million in conservation investments conservatively yielded over $2.8 billion in Return on Conservation? value in FY 2019, delivering at least a 4:1 and up to 40:1 return per dollar invested.

Earlier this month, we hosted a webinar to share our methodology, findings, and hopes for the future of conservation with stakeholders across the nation. We heard from industry leaders, sustainability professionals, nonprofits, and more about their needs and demonstrated how this new tool will help them make the business case for conservation.? Watch the webinar recording below to learn more about our Return on Conservation? Report and our hopes for the future of conservation.

How to Use ROC? Report

The ROC? Report has been created and structured for a variety of uses, from valuing conservation impact to increasing conservation understanding, funding, and activity. These uses include but are certainly not limited to business case creation, opportunity identification, goal setting, forecasting, and reporting.

Business case creation and evaluation Move beyond trying to compare a single variable like acres to a project budget or selling an investment primarily with human interest stories. Utilize ecoregion and conservation activity return values to determine a project’s total estimated return in relation to the project budget. Use more granular ecosystem service values provided for a more narrow and specific view of project value. Provide a true, economics-based business case for conservation.

Opportunity identification Utilize ecoregion and conservation activity views to understand and compare areas of need or opportunity. Whether looking for particular geographical impact, areas of greatest funding need, or even investing in methodology innovation, data is available to compare both spend and projected results.

Impact forecasting / Goal setting Set project goals or forecast impact of work towards organization goals by understanding and selecting relevant ecosystem service variables and their values.

Impact reporting Provide economic analysis in sustainability and project reports utilizing the data, framework, and examples given.

“If we invested just .5% of our current GDP, this would yield $10B in investment and $43.9B in return to Texas GDP,” -Joni Carswell, President and CEO, Texan by Nature.

Key Takeaways

Conservation is good and additional investment is warranted. Conservation is good beyond the moral choice made to care for our world. It’s good economically. Conservative return rations of 4:1 up to 40:1 provide the evidence. Given the economic value of conservation, operational investment in conservation makes sense. Adding operational investments to the current philanthropic landscape will accelerate conservation and its results.

Data is needed. Collaboration and sharing of information is needed such that we’re building on the best practices and the best available data to speed decision processes, partnerships, and funding. Post-project reporting should loop back into a collaborative dataset used for ecosystem service estimation so that the conservation community is always improving our understanding, evaluation, and tools.

Stronger budgeting and reporting will make a difference. All conservation projects should budget data collection – baseline, monitoring, and reporting. Funders need to look for, expect, and include this in project evaluation and funding. Conservation projects should include the real expenses it takes to achieve outcomes including administrative and management expenses. This will sustain our work and workforce long term.

Creating the case for conservation needs to move from art to the science it represents. Most of the impact metrics shared via website, IRS Form 990, and annual report for conservation are more human interest than business case. Transparently pairing hard data with human interest will yield larger, long term results. This report and the examples provided can be used as a baseline dataset to make the initial case for conservation projects. All proxies are available for use and demonstrated within the report. Budgeting post-project validation testing is recommended.

Our vision is for every business, every Texan to participate in conservation and for Texas to be a model of collaborative conservation for the world. Together we can get there.

ROC? Report Supplemental Resources

For conservation: download the SimpleCase-Maker tool to calculate the total Return on Conservation? value of your projects. Share your thoughts and help us grow the conversation by leaving your feedback on the current report and submitting your organization’s data for the next iteration of the report.

For business: download the SimpleCase-Maker tool to calculate the total Return on Conservation? value of your investments. Use the findings from this report to push forward your company’s sustainability goals and join Texan by Nature as a business member to get involved with local conservation projects.

For Texans, stay proud! We have a lot to celebrate about our natural resources and the work we do as a state to advance conservation. Join the dialogue: take a look at the report and tell us your thoughts, sign up for our newsletter, follow us on social media, and share this blog with a friend to help us get even more Texans participating in conservation.