Municipal Natural Assets Initiative: Results From the Second National Cohort 

Decision-maker Summary 

Natural assets, such as wetlands, forests, and creeks, provide many critical services to communities, and are important assets in the sustainable provision of core municipal services. A wetland, for example, provides stormwater management and flood mitigation services that would have to be replaced by an engineered alternative if the wetland were lost. However, while natural assets are key to sustainable service delivery, they are generally not accounted for and/or are undervalued in asset management practices. 

This is changing. A growing number of Canadian local governments are recognizing that it is as important to understand, measure, manage and account for natural assets as it is for engineered ones. Doing so can allow them to manage climate, service delivery and financial risks by better understanding what services come from natural assets yet have not been accounted for, and how those services may be affected under conditions of climate change. In looking at the value that is or can be provided by natural assets, many are also finding that the quality of the services can, in some cases, meet or exceed those from engineered assets such as pipes, culverts, groundwater wells, or seawalls – but cost much less and provide many other benefits such as cooler and shadier cities in the summer and urban recreation. 

This Project Overview document outlines the findings of, and lessons learned by, six local governments as they investigated how natural assets are benefiting their communities, how to increase resiliency under future climate scenarios, and what economic value is being derived from these natural assets. While the focus was on water quality and quantity benefits, numerous other benefits were also identified for future analysis.