Learn more about Natural Asset Management Plans with the following general FAQs provided by Natural Assets Initiative.

What is natural asset management?

Asset management is the process of inventorying a community’s existing assets, determining the current state of those assets, and preparing and implementing a plan to maintain or replace those assets, which allows municipalities to make informed decisions regarding a community’s assets and finances.

Natural asset management refers to the process of understanding, accounting, and employing regenerative approaches for natural resources or ecosystems (i.e., “natural assets”) that contribute to the provision of services required for the health, well-being, and long-term sustainability of a community and its residents.

By understanding the value of their natural assets, local governments like the Town of Pelham can make more cost-effective, sustainable decisions related to future development, infrastructure, biodiversity, and climate change adaptation plans.

What are some examples of natural assets, and what services do they provide?

Natural assets are part of the broader category of green infrastructure and include things like wetlands, forests, soil, and rivers that provide benefits. These benefits (often called “ecosystem services”) can include core benefits a city or town relies on, like flood mitigation or clean drinking water, and co-benefits like health and wellness or carbon storage.

• For example, some wetland plants help filter pollutants, providing a community with cleaner water than if that wetland didn’t exist.
• Healthy marshes and creeks can help reduce flooding and manage stormwater because they are able to absorb some of the excess water during spring melts or heavy rain, and shoreline vegetation can minimize potential erosion by acting as a buffer between the water and the shore.
• Intact forests and trees can provide clean oxygen, support habitat for native animal and plant species, and offer opportunities for outdoor recreation activities like hiking, mountain biking, and birdwatching.

Examples of natural assets:

• Wetlands, marshes & swamps
• Forests
• Lakes, rivers & creeks
• Fields & meadows
• Beaches & shorelines

Examples of services provided by natural assets:

• Stormwater management
• Flood control
• Water & wastewater treatment
• Climate change mitigation
• Carbon storage
• Indigenous cultural & historical values
• Recreation & Tourism
• Biodiversity & habitat preservation
• Health

Why should we value natural assets?

• Local governments across Canada are faced with significant infrastructure challenges. Many of the services cities need to provide—including water and wastewater, waste removal, transportation, and environmental services—depend, in large part, on older infrastructure assets that need to be repaired or rebuilt. Meanwhile, the effects of climate change are expected to put even more strain on these assets and local government budgets.
• Our communities are facing growing risks from hazards such as flash floods, heat domes, forest fires, and rising sea levels. At the same time, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities indicates that ⅓ of infrastructure is already in very poor to only fair condition. Communities simply do not have the resources to build their way out of this urgent infrastructure crisis in the face of a changing climate. About 60% of public infrastructure is owned by local governments, which means they have the power to make significant changes — communities can take charge of managing their natural assets and fulfill responsibilities to provide core services such as water filtration, stormwater management and protection from flooding in adaptable, climate-resilient, and cost-effective ways.
• Think of it this way: nature is infrastructure that is already built, providing services you already use. And unlike a levee or pipe, natural assets are alive can be self-sustaining, lessening replacement or repair costs on communities. With effective monitoring, maintenance, and rehabilitation now, nature can add value for decades in ways that many engineered assets (like storm drains) cannot match.
• Municipalities have the most control over their own assets. What’s more, natural assets require management at a local level, so while progress is being made policy and economic levels, the biggest impacts to your municipality’s budget, climate resilience, and sustained services are determined by what you do today.
• Local governments are finding that natural assets are resilient and adaptable to climate change. With effective monitoring, maintenance and rehabilitation now, natural assets can provide service and add value for decades in ways that many engineered assets cannot match.

How do we value natural assets?

Natural asset management is not about determining a “price” for nature because nature is invaluable to our communities, our culture and our planet. Natural asset management values natural assets for the services they provide in a local government context, making it easier to compare opportunities and costs against traditional assets and infrastructure decisions. There are a few ways to determine an estimated dollar value for services gained from natural assets, but a common method is by figuring out what the building and maintenance costs would be if a local government had to supply those services themselves; this is known as “replacement cost.”

Natural asset management also recognizes other types of benefits that cannot be measured by a dollar value, such as traditional Indigenous significance and mental health benefits.

Want to learn more? Natural asset management in the news:

https://www.tvo.org/article/the-grindstone-creek-watershed-provides-2-billion-in-services-how

https://oshawaexpress.ca/oshawa-creek-worth-400-million-study/

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whatonearth/pricing-nature-climate-change-1.6646588