Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs - InVEST:

InVEST is a set of free open-source software models used to map and value nature's goods and services that sustain and satisfy human life. If managed properly, ecosystems produce a flow of services that are vital to humanity, including the production of goods (for example, food), life-sustaining processes (for example, water purification), and conditions that satisfy life (e.g. beauty, opportunities for recreation) and conservation options (e.g. genetic diversity for future use).

Governments, non-profit organizations, international lending institutions, and corporations manage natural resources for multiple uses and must inevitably weigh the trade-offs between them. InVEST's multi-service modular design provides an effective tool to balance the environmental and economic objectives of these diverse entities.

InVEST allows decision makers to assess the quantified trade-offs associated with management alternatives and identify areas where investment in natural capital can enhance human development and conservation. The toolkit includes different ecosystem services models designed for terrestrial, freshwater, marine and coastal ecosystems, as well as a series of "auxiliary tools" to help locate and process input data and understand and visualize the results.

InVEST models are based on production functions that define how changes in the structure and function of an ecosystem are likely to affect the flows and values ​​of ecosystem services in a landscape or seascape. The models take into account both the provision of services (e.g., living habitats as buffers for storm waves) and the location and activities of the people who benefit from the services (e.g., the location of people and infrastructure potentially affected by coastal storms).

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