On June 24-25, 2010, the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) hosted its second conference on Ecosystem Services, A New Generation in Restoration: Strategies for Managing Corporate and Public Land, in Silver Spring, Maryland. The conference provided opportunities for discussing current tools and methodologies available for measuring ecosystem valuation, strategies being undertaken through various case study projects on both private and public land and served as a forum to explore ways to include ecosystem service-based approaches in WHC programs and services. The two-day conference included six thought-provoking sessions focusing on topics such as the corporate need for ecosystem services and comparing available tools to measure ecosystem services. Sessions also included specific case studies.  Expert speakers including corporate land managers, government officials, and economists led an engaging dialogue that encouraged audience insights and participation to provide a well-rounded discussion. 

A number of themes emerged during the conference, which will help facilitate a plan for establishing ecosystem services into WHC programs.  Theses themes included:

• The business case for using an ecosystem services approach is strong; there are many environmental, social, and economic benefits. Keynote speaker Lloyd Timberlake of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development reminded us that, “Business as usual equals disaster.”
• Multiple tools are available for measuring ecosystem services; however, we were cautioned that we must consider purpose, scale and scope when selecting tools…there is no “one size fits all” approach for tool selection.
• Not all tools and methodologies are complete. Many Ecosystem Services and Markets tools and methodologies are still emerging. 
• If landowners are to invest in tools, they must be simple, yet effective, in producing accurate results in order to mainstream in to sustainability and biodiversity management plans.
• Some ecosystem services such as pollination are known to have a major influence on humans but remain hard to quantify; this often leads to these services being disregarded.
• Valuing ecosystem services must be done on local scales, since all ecosystems vary based on many levels. 

A complete conference summary will be available in early August and presentations will be made available to those who participated. Conference participants should contact publications@wildlifehc.org for copies of the presentations. Please check back to the WHC Ecosystem Services website for the most up-to-date information on the Ecosystem Services Working Group committees or contact Jeff Popp, Land Restoration Program Manager, at jpopp@wildlifehc.org.