Webinar Description:
Nature provides us with many services, from wildlife habitat to recreation opportunities. But beyond its intrinsic value, nature also provides measurable benefits to humans in the form of nature-based solutions to some of our most pressing environmental problems, including climate change. In this webinar, Mass Audubon will present a case for green infrastructure focused on the financial and health benefits of natural areas. We will share a new project on the Value of Nature, namely a set of five fact sheets on the value that Forests, Coastal areas, Wetlands & Waterways, Grasslands & Farmland, and Urban Green Space provide to people, and a new report on the economic importance of natural resources in the Narragansett Bay Watershed. We will describe examples of the use of green infrastructure vs. traditional infrastructure in local communities, focusing on the cost savings opportunities of using nature first. Lastly, we will share other economic resources available to communities to help support the use of green infrastructure.
Objectives:
– Put an economic value on nature’s ability to improve public health and build climate resilience
– Use fact sheets to make the case for land protection and urban green space
– Learn about other economic resources available to local communities to help support the use of green infrastructure.
Presenter:
Paige Dolci is Mass Audubon’s Central/MetroWest Regional Coordinator for the Shaping the Future of Your Community program. Her primary role is performing outreach and providing technical assistance to municipalities with high rates of development in support of sustainable planning and nature-based solutions for climate resilience. Through previous roles like TerraCorps Land Stewardship Coordinator with Sudbury Valley Trustees, she has experience engaging local communities and organizations on topics like open space protection and urban pollinator habitat. Paige studied environmental science and policy at Boston University.