Natural Capital & InVEST Training in Vermont 

The Natural Capital Project (NatCap) cordially invites you to attend our InVEST Training in Vermont on June 13th and 14th, 2013. This two-day course will teach participants how to use the InVEST software suite and ways to apply approaches and tools for ecosystem service valuation in decision-making. A preliminary program with an introduction to InVEST and the natural capital approach will be held on June 12 at the United States Society for Ecological Economics conference (http://www.uvm.edu/conferences/ussee), which all registrants are encouraged to attend.

Mapping and modeling ecosystem services can help uncover hidden costs and benefits of different natural resource management options, providing key information to improve the relationship between humans and the ecosystems on which we depend.  InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs) is a decision-support tool, developed by the Natural Capital Project that allows nature’s benefits to be incorporated into decision-making.  InVEST models have been used in over 20 significant policy applications worldwide—from the designation of ecosystem function conservation areas in China, to the establishment of water funds in Latin America, to marine spatial planning in Belize.

This workshop is designed for students, researchers, and professionals with an interest in ecosystem management. We will focus on data preparation, implementing InVEST in GIS, and interpretation of model results.  The goal of this training is for attendees to walk away with the knowledge and confidence to apply the tools and approach in their own work.