Incorporating Ecosystem Goods and Services in Environmental Planning – A Literature Review

Overview: There has been interest for several decades in assessing the benefits that humans derive from naturally functioning ecosystems. While the notion of ecosystem goods and services benefiting humans is not entirely new, it has become increasingly formalized for consideration in environmental policy analysis. It is closely tied to concepts in ecosystem-based management of natural resources. The authors ’ intent in this technical note is to lay the foundation for a framework that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) can use to incorporate consideration of eco-system goods and services in water resource project planning and management; the authors also seek to identify any research needs to accommodate that goal. This technical note and the corresponding literature review and report are the first products in a series of publications for the Incorporating Ecosystem Goods and Services (EGS) in Environmental Planning Work Unit. Subsequent related products researching policies, data and tools, interagency coordination and an assessment framework are in progress, and will be released over the next few years. Objective The objective of this technical note is to explore the challenges and opportunities for incorporating EGS considerations in project planning. These considerations are particularly important fo