Building A Legacy of Grasslands Conservation
Grasslands Conservation Exchange
Grasslands Capital X leads the way in grasslands conservation, restoration, and regeneration by giving sellers and buyers an efficient, highly collaborative marketplace based on an exchange of grassland ecosystem services benefits.
NOTE: Currently Grassland Capital X is in the testing (pilot) stage.
The importance of Ecosystem Services Benefits
Ecosystem services benefits are the result of management decisions, as is the case with the production of market commodities like oil, wheat, and cattle. There are costs associated with management decisions that provide these benefits, therefore there must be a return on investment if landowners are to continue to own and manage lands for long-term sustainability.
voluntary market returns
Pressures to convert grasslands to other uses such as real estate development or higher value crops are very real. It is widely accepted that grasslands provide large amounts of ecosystem services benefits. In spite of this reality, there is no market cost for diminishing these benefits and no market revenue for the production of these benefits. There are some market-based tools in development for certain ecosystem services but generally the approach has been inflexible with unrealistic expectations and uncertain outcomes.
Pragmatic, flexible and voluntary market returns for commodities and ecosystem services benefits are desired. Market returns for commodities in the absence of market returns for ecosystem services benefits inevitably drive land use decisions away from the production of ecosystem services benefits.
A Note From the Western Stock Growers’ Association
As demand for diverse land use expands, so do the challenges to conserve grasslands. The current incentives for maintaining native grasslands are limited and have variable attractiveness to ranchers, despite the numerous environmental benefits grasslands provide.
The Western Stock Growers’ Association has championed the creation of a grassland conservation exchange as a way to provide incentives for land management decisions driven by sustainability and regeneration, while providing society with valuable healthy grassland ecosystems complete with the suite of ecosystem services benefits they provide.
recognizing the value of healthy ecosystems
Tapping into the value of ecosystem services.