Manejo De Cuencas En Mexico

Valuing Nature and Social Return on Investment in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve

Executive Summary

August 2011

I. Introduction The Alliance for the Conservation of the Sierra Gorda (Alliance) uses a variety of tools to describe, quantify and communicate the value of the natural resources of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve and the benefits of the programs for their conservation.These tools include the quantification and valuation of ecosystem services and the analysis of social return on investment (SROI). This document presents a summary of some of the results. II. Valuing of the Natural Resources of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve The natural resources of the Sierra Gorda are important for their provision of ecosystem services as well as a means of sustenance for itsresidents. In this section, we estimate the value of selected ecosystem services as well as the economic value of one example of sustainable use of forest resources. In Table 1, the value of carbon, hydrological and biodiversity services provided by the SGBR is estimated at more than $4.5 billion USD.
Table 1. Value of ecosystem services in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve Value in USDEcosystem Service Carbon capture Premium Carbon project Carbon capture Solidarity Carbon project Carbon storage and capture Biodiversity Carbon project Carbon storage Value of total carbon storage in vegetation of SGBR Hydrological services Biodiversity services TOTAL

2,717,006

3,480,000

26,842,174

1,801,347,510 1,340,091,300 1,340,091,300 4,514,569,298

In Table 2, an example of thevalue provided by the sustainable use of forest resources is presented. This example involves the value of planned harvesting for pulp production and is estimated at more than $6.7 million USD.

Table 2. Value of sustainable use of forest resources: projected pulp production in the SGBR Value in USD 43,478 586,087 86,957 6,062,000 6,778,522

Description 50 hectares, first half of 2012 50hectares, felling cycle of 25 to 30 years 100 additional hectares, second half of 2012 606 hectares, next five years TOTAL

III. Social Return on Investment in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve In this section, we present a summary of an analysis of the social return on investment (SROI) of the programs of the Alliance. This information is based upon an external SROI analysis conducted by SVT Group in2007 with revisions and updates by the Alliance. A. Calculation of social return on investment with selected monetized returns In this section, we present a calculation of the annual social return on investment of the Alliance utilizing selected monetized returns of the overall project operated by the Alliance. The return on investment is separated into two large categories ─ I) Income generatedby the Sierra Gorda project for the local economy and II) Annual value of ecosystem services provided by the SGBR ─ which are further broken down into subcategories. Following SROI methodology, this calculation takes into account the percentage of returns that are attributable to the work of the Alliance. The results show a return on investment of $17.42 USD for each $1 USD invested.
Table 3.Annual Social Return on Investment of Sierra Gorda Alliance for Conservation Return on Investment I. Income obtained or generated by the Sierra Gorda Alliance for the local economy (USD1) Temporary employment programs (2010) Community income from pulp production (annual projection) Other community income (2010) Reserve tourism (2010) Amount

205,603 41,667 113,450 1,067,500

1

Assumes exchangerate of 12 pesos MXN = 1 USD.

Income of Sierra Gorda Alliance employees and workers (2010) Subtotal The economic ripple effects of income coming into the area, using a multiplier of 1.82 Total II. Annual value of ecosystem services Carbon storage Hydrological services Biodiversity services Avoided erosion3 Total GRAND TOTAL Investment (combined budgets of organizations of Sierra Gorda...