Title of Talk: "Rewilding for Community Benefit: How we Plan and Fund Large-Scale Ecosystem Restoration"

Speaker: Dr. Matthew Reale-Hatem, Visiting Faculty, College of Charleston

Abstract: With the UN declaring the 2020s the “Decade on Ecological Restoration,” interest and funding for restoration projects are steadily increasing (Jones 2018). While the body of ecological research is sizable, the decision of where and when to invest in restoration is fundamentally an economic one. Recent large scale analyses have focused on the prioritization question from a static cost-benefit perspective (Strassburg 2020), an important approximation. I develop an economic model of two main extensions of the restoration planning problem: projections of changing conditions, and uncertainty in those projections, for both the investment decision at a single site and prioritization across multiple sites. I first present a generalized stochastic-dynamic framework that can be applied to various contexts. I next apply the model to a restoration practice with a developed empirical literature and ecological estimates, Atlantic Forest plantations in Brazil. I focus on two main projections, in tandem with ecological data and theory on regrowth trajectories: economic changes in agricultural opportunity costs and shifts in forest cover, both driven by climate change. I find significant changes in prioritization decisions under these projections, underscoring the possibility of using forward-looking information. Finally, I use estimations of uncertainty in these projections to simulate changes in restoration decisions over time, exploring the implications of those changes on potential drivers of restoration success.

Bio of Speaker: Matthew Reale-Hatem is a visiting faculty member at the College of Charleston, studying conservation policy and sustainable development. Trained as an economist, their Ph.D program is Duke University's Program in Environmental Policy, with a concentration in economics. Their work focuses on Brazil and Indonesia, encompassing long impact evaluation of conservation programs, protected area governance, and economic planning for ecosystem restoration. Prior to their Ph.D., they received a B.A. in Mathematics with a minor in Economics from Pomona College, and worked in K-12 schools, including a term of service with AmeriCorps.

We look forward to your active participation.

Warm Regards,

Environmental Studies Department