Valuation and Mapping of Environmental and Economic Factors to Support
Climate-Friendly Land Use Decisions in the Massachusetts Cranberry
Industry
Abstract
Land-use decisions, particularly in an agricultural setting, lie at the
nexus of the colliding challenges of climate change and food insecurity.
Understanding and guiding these decisions at the regional scale is a key
strategy in the development of natural climate solutions and sustainable
food production systems. These issues come together in a particularly
high-stakes context in the Massachusetts cranberry industry, which
occupies a position of significant economic and sociocultural importance
in the region, but faces a number of challenges in the form of
heightened competition, unstable prices, an aging farmer population, and
changing ecological conditions. Many farmers are looking either for ways
to become profitable, or to exit the industry in a financially
sustainable way. One option is to sell their land to developers; another
option, which is exciting to scientists and environmental advocates, is
undergoing an active habitat rehabilitation to restore the beneficial
ecosystem services of a functioning wetland environment. Integrating
satellite data and in-situ sensor data collected over the past decade,
we aim to conduct a systems analysis that unites the viewpoints of
cranberry industry stakeholders and clarifies the trade-offs between
environmental, economic, and social factors in the region. We propose to
address this aim via three core research efforts: a contextual analysis
of the industry; a valuation and mapping of key ecological, economic,
and social factors; and an integrated modeling approach that models
interactions and trade-offs between these factors. In particular, this
presentation will focus on the progress we have made valuing and mapping
key environmental and economic factors using publicly available
satellite imagery and census data. This work demonstrates how these
factors align with existing features of the natural and built
environment, supports conservation organizations and municipalities in
their restoration and conservation advocacy, and provides a foundation
for future scenario mapping that will analyze trade-offs in different
land use cases.