Mispillion Watershed, photo credit Partnership for the Delaware Estuary
Over the last century, the Mispillion watershed, which includes the City of Milford and Slaughter Beach, Delaware, has experienced considerable losses in forests and wetlands. Residents describe the remaining Mispillion watershed marshes as “pristine” and “unique”. The watershed contains significantly protected lands, is bordered by National Wildlife Refuges, and contains internationally recognized flyways for migrating birds, including the endangered Red Knot. The communities are working together to protect and enhance the areas’ natural resources, not only for long-term resource management for its citizens, but also for the Delaware Bayshore’s potential to draw recreation and ecotourism visitors to its beauty.
Through funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Environmental Finance Center (EFC) developed an economic valuation of critical natural resources that support this unique and pristine area. The EFC interviewed key technical and policy experts to identify benefits to residents and visitors –such as significant recreation and leisure activities reliant on the area’s beauty. Benefits valuation provides dollar values of the activities and estimates the monetary values associated with ecosystem services such as wetlands that provide storm protection to local properties. The dollar value of these benefits will help communicate the importance of the community’s resources and assist in evaluating sustainable eco-tourism opportunities.
This project is part of a greater effort by the Resilient and Sustainable Communities League (RASCL), and the Waterways Infrastructure Investment Network (WIIN) funded project under the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation National Coastal Resilience Fund. The EFC will work with the project partners to incorporate a benefit-cost of ecotourism options into a management plan that will also include a vulnerability analysis. The management plan will be a blueprint for the communities to protect, restore, enhance and invest in natural resources vital to their local economy.
Municipalities
- Town of Slaughter Beach, DE
- City of Milford, DE
Partners
Sponsor
Press
Two Delaware Watersheds Are Valued at Millions of Dollars Annually, Research Finds, Pew, July 21, 2021
Mispillion, Cedar Creek watersheds worth millions for nature alone, study says, MilfordLive, July 22, 2021