A restoration economy is a relatively new idea defined as the economic activity associated with the restoration of degraded lands. In other words, a restoration economy is the opposite of an extractive economy that creates economic activity by extracting or depleting natural resources.
In our region, one sign of environmental degradation is the frequent occurrence of flash floods associated with the loss of soils and vegetation that can trap and hold water after rain events. As we all know, especially during the monsoon, storms can drop a lot of rain quickly. Without adequate ground cover, these “high energy” storm events reduce water infiltration into the ground and result in incised streams and drops the water table. Consequently, water is less available for wildlife, grazing, and agriculture and damage from flooding is more frequent.
Borderlands Restoration and other partners have been building simple rock structures to trap storm runoff, giving rainwater the chance to infiltrate back into the ground and depositing sediment behind the structures. Eventually, this work will re-attach the rivers with their floodplains, raising the water table, making surrounding lands again able to support vegetation, and thus be more productive.
It is from this restored productivity that opportunity and jobs are created in a restoration economy. This is why the concept of “restoration economy” is much broader than just providing jobs to those actually restoring degraded lands. The broader concept includes all the economic benefits derived from maintaining healthy ecosystems such as higher crop production from healthy pollinator populations, reduced risk of flooding, lower health-care costs because of safe drinking water, plus the jobs associated with ecotourism and the enjoyment of nature.
A key issue to be explored by Borderlands Restoration Leadership Institute is whether or not the restoration economy can grow to provide jobs and other economic benefits comparable to those provided by the other economic sectors.
One hint comes from Oregon, where issues like salmon recovery and forest regeneration have had a substantial economic benefit. A recent study found statewide that $411 million spent on 6740 restoration projects generated an estimated $752 million to $977 million dollars in economic impact. To put these numbers in perspective, jobs in Forestry and Mining in Oregon contribute about $500 million annually to the Oregon’s economy and employ 8000 to 11,000 people, depending on the season of the year.
To fully justify the name “restoration economy” and to truly impact the economy and ecology of the borderlands region, the number of jobs and economic impact provided by restoring degraded ecosystems and maintaining ecosystem function needs to grow dramatically. As we implement BRLI, we will ask, “What does success look like?” Can we create 100 jobs in Santa Cruz and Cochise Counties? 1000?” “Can we be equally or more successful in northern Sonora?”
This question of how the Borderlands Restoration Leadership Institute fosters the development of a restoration economy becomes the question of how to foster economic activity that restores degraded systems and maintains the services provided by natural systems. This question will not be answered easily and will constitute much of the work of the Institute, especially during its initial years.