Can you put a dollar value on the benefits the Niagara Escarpment’s ecosystem provides?

The Stop Escarpment Highway Coalition says you can and has released a report in support of this.

The coalition, which consists of 12 local environmental and citizen organizations with more than 7,000 members, recently released a report called Flamborough-Burlington Natural Capital: Assessment of Ecosystem Service Values in the MTO West Corridor Planning Area.

The report states that the natural capital of the area studied is nearly $912 million per year.

“We’ve had a longtime frustration with the Ministry of Transportation processes — one of them is that in terms of the way they look at the economic return on such a project, they always leave out the environment until it’s too late,” said Sue McMaster, co-chair of Citizens Opposed to Paving the Escarpment (COPE), which is a member of the Stop Escarpment Highway Coalition.

“We decided to do something about it ourselves, so we commissioned the study and we hired a reputable group to show what it is worth…. That amount of money ($912 million) totally skews the entire process in terms of what is the actual economic benefit and return of such a project,” said McMaster.

The study area for the report encompasses a wide swath of more than 85,000 hectares predominantly across Burlington and Flamborough.

Continue reading the full story by Tina Depko via InsideHalton Article: Valuing the Escarpment.