The Bay Bank

Your property’s potential to generate ecosystem credits will vary depending on the needs of different markets. In general, credit potential is defined by:

• Your property’s location:
  many markets target funding to priority areas (e.g. areas with high rates of nitrogen runoff, important habitat, etc.).
• Your property’s ability to enhance ecosystem services:
  Ecosystem credits are usually defined by improvements in existing environmental conditions. This requirement for “additional” action is driven by a buyer’s needs or desires. For example, to comply with regulatory permit requirements a waste water treatment plants needs to prove that purchased credits have lowered nitrogen pollution to water ways. Therefore, past conservation actions may not be eligible for credits.
• Chosen conservation actions:
  science has shown that management practices and conservation actions produce varying improvements in ecosystem services like carbon sequestration or nitrogen removal.
• Other market requirements:
  each market area will have different requirements that define the need for conservation easements, lower credit potential due to scientific uncertainty, etc.
• Project implementation:
  many times a conservation practice will be implemented differently than what was originally planned. These “as built” conditions may alter early credit estimates.

Bay Bank will help landowners make sense of these rules so that farmers and woodland owners can easily and more cheaply enter ecosystem markets and conservation programs.