Case Study: Modernizing Restoration - Advancing restoration benefits tracking
Restoring our environment is critical in fighting climate change; we need to get smarter about where and how we do this. The ability to concretely track the benefits of restoration projects that store carbon, reduce flooding, and improve biodiversity, among other benefits, is fundamental to doing so. The Regulatory In lieu fee and Bank Information Tracking System (RIBITS) is a national system, developed by the Army Corps of Engineers (US ACE), to track America's mitigation program across wetlands, streams and habitats for endangered species. RIBITS could play a more important role in tracking projects and enabling markets for restoration benefits, but needs more support to realize this vision.
We recommend four actions to make this vision a reality:
Expand capabilities for tracking benefits, like carbon, to help create an efficient marketplace for investment.
Initiate a user-centered design process to simplify tracking progress toward goals and strengthen trust in RIBITS.
Connect RIBITS to existing data systems to increase efficiency and enable coordinated decision-making.
Budget and plan for RIBITS continued use and improvement.
Like this idea and want to get in touch? Contact Reed Van Beveren at reed@policyinnovation.org.
