The following links provide more detailed background information on the various market mechanisms and financial incentives that EIP makes use of through our investments.

Mitigation Markets

• Section 404 of the Clean Water Act provides the basic requirements that drive mitigation markets. Compliance is overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers, and a comprehensive overview of the Act and the regulations which govern development and infrastructure projects in the U.S. can be found at www.epa.gov.
• The North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program provides a well developed model of state use of mitigation markets to provide timely and cost-effective compliance with Clean Water Act requirements related to transportation infrastructure.

Conservation (Endangered Species) Banking

• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service oversees compliance with Sections 7 and 10 of the Endangered Species Act which require compensatory mitigation. A complete overview of the program can be found at www.fws.gov.

Conservation Finance

• One particularly good reference for information on Conservation Finance issues is the Conservation Leadership Dialog, which has been convened by the Center for Conservation Innovation at the Harvard Forest. In particular, they offer an excellent newsletter on the subject. More on this program can be found at harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu.

Sustainable Harvest

• An excellent example of this type of "working conservation" can be found in the Lyme Timber Company, the lead investor in Ecosystem Investment Partners. More information on the approach pioneered by Lyme Timber can be found at www.lymetimber.com.

Tradable Development Rights

• A comprehensive resource for learning about TDR’s has been developed online by a Southern California based consultant, Rick Preutz, and can be found at www.beyondtakingsandgivings.com.

Developing Markets

• The most significant of these emerging markets in the U.S. is clearly the market for carbon sequestration through reforestation and forest management. California’s AB32 legislation has created a "cap and trade" system for carbon that allows offsets through registered forest projects, and over 250,000 acres are already deriving revenues through this approach. A summary of the legislation and other related links have been prepared by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, and can be found at www.pewclimate.org.