Healthy coastal ecosystems provide critical social and environmental benefits. They filter pollution, buffer coasts against extreme weather, serve as nurseries that sustain fisheries, and support tourism, recreation and the culture of coastal communities. However, we are losing wetlands in the US at a rate of seven football fields an hour, due to development, pollution and sea level rise.
Join the Center for American Progress and Oxfam America for the release of a new report that explores the long-term economic impact of restored coastal ecosystems. The report highlights analysis of three projects funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: South San Francisco Bay, Seaside Bays, Virginia, and Mobile Bay, Alabama. The event will bring together several leading voices to discuss why restoring our coasts makes economic sense.
Welcoming remarks:
Jeffrey Buchanan, Senior Domestic Policy Advisor, Oxfam America
Featured panelists:
Telley Savalas Madina, Senior Gulf Coast Policy Advisor, Oxfam America
Lynn Scarlett, Managing Director for Public Policy, The Nature Conservancy
Mark Schaefer, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Conservation and Management, Deputy Administrator of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Moderated by:
Michael Conathan, Director for Ocean Policy, Center for American Progress