School of the Environment, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4067, Australia.
College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.
J Environ Manage. 2024 Nov;370:122657. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122657. Epub 2024 Oct 3.
Coastal wetland restoration projects can receive payments for ecosystem services but often occur in regions with limited data, and additional data collection can be financially prohibitive. Value of Information analysis can quantify the difference between the expected value of an action before and after new information has been collected, aiming to understand how much data is required to make decisions that balance the costs of implementation versus the benefits of the project. The Australian carbon market provides a method that uses reintroduction of tidal flows to restore coastal wetland ecosystems for their carbon sequestration functions. The method requires a hydrological assessment of prospective sites, which is employed to estimate carbon sequestration potential. This research investigates how different amounts of data collection and different levels of complexity in the hydrological assessment influence the carbon abatement emissions estimated using the method. The results indicate that tidal restoration for blue carbon credits on grazing land may not be financially viable. We found that tidal data collected onsite were important for decision-making while complex hydrological models have low value compared to more simplistic approaches. While investing in data collection provides more value than increasing the complexity of modelling approaches, the value of information was still low. Additionally, restoration of coastal wetlands is unlikely to be financially attractive at current carbon prices, and the land would have to be unsuitable for cattle to become profitable for restoration. This work provides a framework for evaluating the financial benefit of collecting on-site data and using robust methods for estimating inundation, that can be used to guide decision-making to achieve optimal income.
沿海湿地恢复项目可以获得生态系统服务的支付，但通常发生在数据有限的地区，额外的数据收集可能在财务上是不可行的。信息价值分析可以量化在收集新信息之前和之后行动的预期价值之间的差异，旨在了解需要多少数据来做出平衡实施成本与项目收益的决策。澳大利亚碳市场提供了一种方法，即利用潮汐流的重新引入来恢复沿海湿地生态系统的碳固存功能。该方法需要对潜在地点进行水文评估，以估计碳封存潜力。本研究调查了不同数量的数据收集和水文评估的复杂性如何影响使用该方法估计的碳减排排放量。结果表明，在放牧地上进行潮汐恢复以获取蓝碳信用可能在财务上不可行。我们发现，现场收集的潮汐数据对决策很重要，而复杂的水文模型与更简单的方法相比价值较低。虽然投资数据收集比增加建模方法的复杂性提供更多价值，但信息价值仍然较低。此外，在当前的碳价格下，沿海湿地的恢复不太可能具有财务吸引力，而且该土地必须不适合牛，才能使恢复有利可图。这项工作为评估现场数据收集和使用稳健方法估计淹没的财务效益提供了一个框架，可用于指导决策以实现最佳收益。
