BALTIMORE – Award Received November 1, 2018
The Champion of the Chesapeake Award is granted annually by the Chesapeake Conservancy and Nick Dilks was honored as one of the 2018 recipients. EIP did not pay to receive this award.
Ecosystem Investment Partners (EIP), one of the largest private investment firms dedicated to mobilizing capital to solve ecological restoration and preservation issues, announced today that it has been recognized as a “Champion of the Chesapeake” for its innovative work on restoring the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay. The award is sponsored by the Chesapeake Conservancy, a non-profit organization that works to advance conservation, is given annually to recognize extraordinary leaders for their noteworthy and impactful accomplishments that protect and restore the natural systems and cultural resources of the Chesapeake Bay.
Through innovative pay-for-success contracts where EIP invests its capital up-front and assumes the risk of successful delivery, EIP develops and executes projects that reduce nutrient and sediment discharges to the Chesapeake Bay by restoring the water quality and habitat value of 17 miles of streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
The total anticipated nutrient and sediment reductions from these projects are 16,394 pounds of nitrogen, 3,009 pounds of phosphorus and 2,686 tons of sediment per year. EIP’s projects will continue to improve the water quality and habitat value of the Chesapeake Bay for years to come by providing ongoing reduction of downstream sediment loading and the transport of nitrogen and phosphorus into the Chesapeake Bay. This is the largest project of its kind and will provide long-term positive impact to the region.
EIP was recognized at the Chesapeake Conservancy’s annual “Champions of the Chesapeake” award ceremony for its leadership in creating innovative financial structures using public and private funding o finance results-focused restoration and conservation in the Chesapeake. Nick Dilks, EIP’s Managing Partner, accepted the award in front of several hundred people at the annual ceremony where Jeff Corwin, Emmy-winning television host, author, and biologist, served as the keynote speaker.
“We are thrilled to be honored by the Chesapeake Conservancy for our dedication to results-focused restoration and conservation of the Chesapeake,” said EIP’s Managing Partner Nick Dilks. “We take an innovative approach to our projects and leverage our expertise in ecological restoration and access to capital to create the best possible outcomes. We are excited to be part of major projects that significantly improve the health of the Chesapeake and water quality for years to come, and look forward to leading similar projects in other regions across the country.”
In a recent video posted on the Chesapeake Conservancy’s website, President and CEO, Joel Dunn, commended the leadership of EIP stating, “EIP has become a leader in the private sector environmental mitigation and restoration industry. They are now the largest equity-capitalized restoration company in the Untied States and they are based right here in the Chesapeake Bay in Baltimore.” Dunn further praised EIP’s “impressive track record in Maryland competing for and delivering non-mitigation projects involving stream restoration through pay-for-success delivery contracts in three separate sets of watersheds in Cecil County.”
The Chesapeake Conservancy selected EIP as an awardee along with two other leading conservation and restoration organizations; the Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental and Protection Integration (REPI) program and the Conservation Fund. This year’s honorees are in good company with previous award winners, including U.S. Senator Barbara S. Mikulski of Maryland (retired); U.S. Senator Paul S. Sarbanes of Maryland (retired); U.S. Senator John W. Warner of Virginia (retired); Maryland Governor Larry Hogan; former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe; US Fish & Wildlife Service; and REI.
About Ecosystem Investment Partners
Ecosystem Investment Partners (“EIP”) is one of the largest private investment firm fully dedicated to mobilizing capital to solve ecological restoration and preservation issues. EIP delivers the highest quality ecological restoration and conservation projects in the United States. Through its investment funds, it acquires, restores and permanently protects priority conservation properties, and sells the credits generated to customers who must offset their unavoidable environmental impacts.
Over the past decade, EIP has protected and restored regionally significant properties in the U.S.–providing both a return to investors and lasting environmental benefits. With $500 million in assets under management and over 57,000 acres owned, EIP is a national leader in large-scale ecological restoration. To date, EIP has developed 39 mitigation banks and executed an assortment of other restoration projects in nine states, including over 33,000 acres of wetland restoration and 150 miles of stream restoration completed. EIP’s national footprint continues to expand with another 4,800 acres of wetland restoration and 165 miles of stream mitigation under permitting and construction in 2018.