Conserv™ creates systems to link a watershed’s economy and ecosystem. We work in the mid-atlantic and southeast regions of the U.S.

2011 Initiatives

Optimum Environmental Expenditure (OEE) Model

An Optimum Environmental Expenditure Model will be created to compare the cost effectiveness of “upstream” conservation practices (natural infrastructure) in the South Fork Rivanna River Reservoir Watershed with “downstream” dams and dredging (built infrastructure) to mitigate the decline of four water-supply related ecosystem services; groundwater base flow, soil cycle, nitrogen cycle, and the phosphorus cycle.

The model will integrate social, financial, and environmental data to yield the alternative costs borne by a Charlottesville area ratepayer for a gallon of drinking water. This work will take two years to complete and is a new component of the 2010 Forests to Faucets (F2F) initiative (see below).

Trust for a Clean Water Economy - Rappahannock Watershed

In December, 2009, the Rappahannock River Basin Commission voted to test an economic development-based pollution reduction platform called the Trust for a Clean Economy. The Trust, primarily conceived as a “Watershed Bank”, is designed to reduce pollution into the Rappahannock River and Chesapeake Bay. The “architecture” for the Trust will be tested through models and simulations in 2011. Based upon these simulations, an implementation plan will be developed. Essentially a business plan, this document will estimate the costs and capabilities of the entity to help meet EPA’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the Rappahannock drainage basin of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Trust Demonstration Projects

Testing of Market Infrastructure for Trust for Clean Water Economy

The purpose of the proposed initiative is to test and evaluate the architecture of a private sub-watershed based ecosystem services management entity – the Trust for a Clean Water Economy (The Trust). The Trust primarily acts as a nutrient bank to incentivize ecosystem services restoration.

Partners/Cooperators include:

• Rappahannock River Basin Commission
• VDOF
• VDEQ
• Water Stewardship, Inc.
• Virginia Tech
• Resources for the Future
• Working Lands Investment Partners, LLC
• Eco Assets Markets, Inc.
• Public Policy of Virginia
• Kathy Harrigan
• World Resources Institute
• Conserv

The Nutrient Neutral Highway

Using the proposed George Washington Toll Road, this project will develop and design a pollution reduction offset and payment program that funds and neutralizes highway impact on the Bay.

Partners include:

• Rappahannock River Basin Commission
• City of Fredericksburg
• Fredericksburg Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
• George Washington Toll Road Authority
• Conserv

The River Friendly Yard

This project will test the financial and environmental efficiencies of the retrofit of existing lawn to “River Friendly Yard” in Fredericksburg.

Partners include:

• Rappahannock River Basin Commission
• City of Fredericksburg
• National Wildlife Federation
• Gentle Gardener Green Design
• Landscape Designers
• Landscape Architects
• George Mason University
• Conserv

Rappahannock Energy and Environmental Efficiency Project (REEEP)

REEEP will test a financial mechanism to link the City, County, and area institutional entities to provide cost effective pollution reduction and energy supply.

Partners include:

• Rappahannock River Basin Commission
• City of Fredericksburg
• Caroline County
• Ft. A.P. Hill
• Public Policy of Virginia
• The Nature Conservancy
• Hanover Caroline Soil and Water Conservation District
• Conserv

Conservation Meadow Services

Conservation Meadow Services (CMS) is a new Conserv initiative that provides an alternative landscaping service for suburban homeowners in Charlottesville, Virginia, that includes design, installation, and maintenance of native plant meadows. CMS integrates landscaping and lawn care with conservation by educating the public about the environmental impacts of lawn care and providing a cost-effective, environmentally responsible, and aesthetically pleasing alternative to mowed grass.

The Process

1. The first step is to schedule a free 30-minute consultation with our team. We’ll perform a careful site analysis to determine the wildflower and grass species best suited to the soil type, light availability, and slope of your location. At this time we will also devise a case-by-case cost estimate and maintenance plan for you. After your consultation, we’ll demarcate the portion of your lawn you’d like to have converted to meadow (however large or small!), and we ask that you stop mowing that area.

2. Over the next 4-6 weeks (depending on rainfall predictions and seedling availability) our team will plant native seedlings on site. Different seed packages will result in meadows of different height, density, and color, so your meadow can be designed in some ways for your wants and needs.

3. Your meadow will require less water than a traditional lawn, but watering during dry periods is necessary to ensure the survival of the seedlings, especially during the first season. Should your meadow be unsuccessful due to drought after the first year, we offer replanting at a significant discount.

4. In late winter, your meadow will require an annual mowing. Establishing a full, diverse, and idyllic meadow usually takes several years as the native plants reseed, establish root systems, and as a meadow ecosystem is formed.

Cost

Cost is determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the size of the meadow site, the density of seedlings you’d like for us to install, which species you choose, and whether or not you are available to help with installation. The cost of installation can generally be offset by one year in savings on lawn maintenance. After the first season, maintenance costs are generally limited to an annual mowing in late winter.

Learn More

To learn more about meadow installation, contact John at (434) 296-9021 to schedule a free consultation and cost estimate.

Forests to Faucets

The Forests to Faucets Initiative (F2F) will create a pilot process to link urban water consumers and rural landowners in a water supply reservoir serving Charlottesville, Virginia. The program features the development of a unique model to compare the efficiency of natural vs. built infrastructure to enhance four ecosystem services to retain nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment , and summer baseflow into the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir. Should the project reveal that conservation is a more efficient mechanism than constructed public works projects such as dredging and new dam construction, water utilities with reservoirs threatened with nutrient enrichment or siltation may seek ways to fund conservation as a more cost efficient path to water quality enhancement.

Contact Conserv Director of Research Dr. Nick Evans at nickonthebike@gmail.com for more information.

Rappahannock Exchange

The Rappahannock Exchange is a pilot economic platform to incentivize the sale of Bay-friendly products and ecosystem services in the Rappahannock River Basin of Central Virginia. The Initiative, launched in 2009, aims to increase the Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) buffering capacity of the watershed through the creation of ecosystem services projects while reducing the sources of N and P through targeted product and service marketing and tracking projects.  The multi-year Initiative features the development of a watershed-wide Nutrient Cooperative or Utility to manage the watershed’s nitrogen and phosphorus cycles and a Marketplace facilitating the transaction of products and services that will help meet federal water pollution goals.

Contact Director of Marketplace Development “Buzz” Van Santvoord at vansantvoord@verizon.net for more information.

Association for Conservation Real Estate

The Association of Conservation Real Estate began in 2006 as a pilot project in Charlottesville, Virginia to facilitate conservation through day to day real estate transactions. From 2007-2009 approximately 2 dozen real estate professionals were trained to become American Conservation Brokers through the Association’s American Conservation Broker certification and training program. This year, Conserv will open a new Chapter in Atlanta, Georgia with a rebranding and expanded focus for The Association - as a clearinghouse for the exchange of information between real estate and conservation professionals in the Southeast.

Contact Director of Real Estate Pam Sunderland at pamelasunderland@ymail.com for more information.

 

The image shown on the homepage is a tribute to Dr. Gretchen Daly, author of Nature’s Services. Conserv ’s theoretical foundation is based to a significant degree on the continuing work of Dr. Daly.

2006-2009 Programs

Deep Green Classifieds

Deep Green Classifieds is a first-generation environmental assets and ecosystem services classified advertising site. All listings are free. The purpose of Deep Green is to help parties that engage in conservation make money. Technically, Deep Green currently focuses on what the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment labels Cultural and Provisioning Ecosystem Services—those services that we humans utilize for recreation and spiritual pursuits and those we use for production of food and water. These services have been monetized to varying degrees. Conserv is working with other governmental and NGO partners to create marketplaces for other categories of ecosystem services, such as Regulating (control of climate and disease), Supporting (nutrient cycles and crop pollination), and Preserving (maintenance of biological diversity).

Deep Green brings together conservation-minded persons and organizations in search of:

• Leasing and sale of recreational rights;
• Leasing and sale of food, fiber, water, energy, and water rights;
• Recreational services wanted;
• Food, fiber, energy, and water rights wanted;
• Properties with environmental assets for sale;
• Properties with environmental assets wanted;
• Conservation jobs;
• Conservation/preservation services offered, and
• Conservation/preservation services wanted.

Conservation Real Estate

Conserv™ defines Conservation Real Estate as property that currently has or will have approved stewardship practices. Only American Conservation Brokers or other special listings approved by Conserv staff can be listed as Conservation Real Estate.

Broker Education

Conserv™ has created the American and International Conservation Broker training programs. These certifications provide instruction to brokers and agents about the ethical, scientific, and procedural dimensions of conservation real estate transactions. The entire American Conservation Broker certification is available as an on-line curriculum. Only properties listed by American Conservation Brokers or authorized by specially authorized by Conserv staff have listings appearing on the homepage.

Join Conserv

Are you interested in utilizing the Conserv logo for business purposes? Membership in Conserv costs $10.00 per year. Members receive access to Conserv logos, stationary, etc.

General Public Education

Conserv™ has created an on-line blog and Sustainability Blackboard that provides an educational forum to buyers, sellers, land trusts, conservation organizations, governmental agencies, and the general public to discuss any market-based conservation topic. These forums explain the principles of private property marketplace conservation, the techniques to use the listing function, and the success stories of buyers, sellers, and brokers that have used Conserv to protect our natural heritage. The public may also join Conserv™ and as a member have access to downloadable education and marketing resources unavailable to the general public.

Background

Conserv is a 501 c-6 non-profit U.S. corporation and owns the American  Conservation Broker Certification program and related environmental asset and ecosystem service marketplaces. Conserv’s staff is advised by a volunteer Board of Directors. Conserv™ has evolved out of the realization that government and non-profit organizations must identify new conservation strategies to more fully protect our planet’s biological diversity. To do this, our economy must move toward a far greater degree of ecological-friendliness. The thinking behind Conserv™ is based on the writings of Dr. Herman Daly (For the Common Good and Beyond Growth), on Sustainable Development research conducted by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission in Charlottesville, Virginia in the 1990s, on sustainable development educational programs conducted by the Environmental Education Center, a former 501-c-3 non-profit educational center also in Charlottesville, and prototype conservation real estate sales experiences of Conserv™ Staff and Board REALTORS in 2004-2007.