Conservation Economics | Supporting The Climate Initiative

Our Goal

To increase the presence and contribution of a Conservation Economy to the overall economy of the State of Nevada by promoting Conservation Economics (C.E.) as a widely accepted category of entrepreneuric activity supported by favorable public policy while forming a scalable and replicable model.

Current perception of C.E.

There is a growing demand for new partnerships to be established across the Western States between federal agencies, state agencies, NGOs, conservationists, scientists, consumers, producers, urban planners, entrepreneurs, and local and indigenous organizations that can share their expertise, tools, and resources to achieve socio, financial, and economic prosperity through stewardship of natural resources for present and future generations.

The Sierra Region is proposed as a prime location for guiding Nevada into servicing this demand as it already has a wide range of businesses who embrace and are profiting from the application of C.E. from mine reclamation to the use of Leed’s certified building technology and organizations already engaged in the development of C.E. from community colleges to indigenous people driven efforts. MJ Note: It would be good to have some more specifics on businesses and what they are doing along C.E. lines to support this statement when / if asked to elaborate.

To that end we offer the following proposal:

Current Definitions

A Conservation Economy is one where natural resource-based communities, industries, and individual businesses harvest and / or increase economic wealth while conserving and restoring natural and social capital.

Conservation Economics (C.E.) is a relatively new science in the economic development world. It consists of the development and application of economic practices that embrace a conservation ethic, and which also are economically competitive (or even preferable) to existing business practices – not only on a community scale but that also translate to the individual business level. C.E. is driven by a growing force of “conservation entrepreneurs” who embrace a conservation ethic and also have an economically rational self interest in the maintenance and restoration of healthy ecosystems. (1)

Our Objectives

1. To positively improve the economic viability of our target region by increasing the conservation-based subset of the overall economy.
2. To be recognized as a viable leader in the development and implementation of C.E.
3. To attract & deploy investment capital in the Conservation Economy subset and fuel entrepreneuric activity for C.E.
4. To expand and / or develop the definitions, algorithms and processes of C.E. that will allow C.E. to apply to existing industries that are not now benefitting from C.E. principles.
5. The realization of a Conservation Economy as a primary component within the region’s (and ultimately the State’s) overall economy.
6. To embrace and include indigenous people’s traditions and knowledge in C.E.

Targeted Outcomes

1. Clear demonstration of increased profitability to organizations embracing C.E.
2. Establishment of C.E. as a key part of STEM based curricula and the development of a C.E. knowledgeable workforce who understands principles of generating economic benefits while conserving natural ecosystems.
3. Successful entrepreneuric start-ups based in conservation principles including low-income entrepreneurs e.g., 1.) micro enterprise training 2.) technical assistance 3.) lending 4.) leadership development 5.) providing access to services to support success for rural communities, women and minority populations.
4. Measurable shift in public and private policy to favor C.E as a primary job and economic impact producer.
5. Scale-able disruptive technology development that conserves natural resource while providing jobs and shareholder profits.
6. Replacement technology that measurably decreases environmental impact of business activities
7. Implementation of new “clean up” technologies within industries that have most negatively impacted our environment
8. Wide acceptance at the consumer level of conservation knowledge and activities
9. The development of new markets to deliver job growth and further environmental goals.

Key components to achievement of Targeted Outcomes

1. Establishing C.E. and the further development of a Conservation Economy as a priority for the region and Nevada’s economic development efforts along with State commitment to support further development of principles of C.E.

2. Identification of existing industries and businesses that already practice C.E., to catalog and organize the evidentiary and knowledgeable resources they represent and possess to provide an exemplary base for growing the Conservation Economy.

3. Organization of an informational “Infrastructure” to support C.E. development, including for example: