Natural Asset Management Planning

Natural assets are the components of natural heritage systems. They include forests, wetlands, meadows, parks, trees, and watercourses. Natural assets fall under the broader umbrella of green infrastructure. 

Asset management planning is a process that strategically manages assets to ensure they provide the services expected by the public, minimize risk, and keep costs low.

Traditionally asset management planning focused on “grey” or built infrastructure assets like roads, but Ontario Regulation 588/17 explicitly includes green infrastructure in its definition of the infrastructure that should be included in asset management plans. Further, Ontario Regulation 686/21 for conservation authorities requires the development of an asset management plan for any water control and erosion control infrastructure, which can include natural assets. These regulations have led to increased interest in natural asset management planning from municipalities, and from conservation authorities who would like to build their expertise to implement natural asset management planning themselves and provide it as a service.

Conservation authorities’ experience providing leading edge science and expertise to support evidence-based municipal decision making makes us well positioned to help further the field of natural asset management. Our roles vary between different conservation authorities, but can be broadly defined in the following areas:

• Leadership
• Subject Matter Experts
• Asset Managers
• Data Collectors and Managers
• Educators

Some conservation authorities are already actively working on natural asset management planning, with our municipal partners, for our own assets, and developing resources with other collaborators like Asset Management Ontario (AMONTario), the Greenbelt Foundation, the Natural Asset Initiative, and the Southwest Environment Finance Centre. Below you will find publicly available resources to support knowledge and capacity building.

Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and AMONTario worked with the Greenbelt Foundation to develop this webinar on the first steps to starting natural asset management planning. Content includes:

• An introduction to the asset management planning process,
• Best practices and data sources for starting a natural asset inventory, and Options to use commitments and placeholders for missing information in asset management plans.

STEP Webinar Series on Natural Asset Management (2022)

April 7, 2022 - Part I: Natural Asset Inventory and Condition Assessment: From street trees and parks to woodlands and wetlands [PDF | RECORDED WEBINAR]
Natural assets, including forests, wetlands, and other green space, provide many critical services to municipalities, like improving air quality, storing carbon, and managing stormwater. However, without proper monitoring, maintenance and long-term management/restoration, the level of service provided by natural assets can diminish. Creating a natural asset inventory and conducting a natural asset condition assessment can help municipalities to keep track of their natural assets and ensure that they are maintained in good condition. Natural assets in good condition will provide better levels of service and help build resiliency to climate change impacts.

In this webinar, Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) builds on the municipal case studies in the Credit River Watershed to walk through the steps to create a natural asset inventory, including effective organization and categorization of assets. They then present CVC-developed approaches to quickly assess the condition of municipal natural assets, including both larger natural areas as well as manicured green space and street trees. The information gathered can be used to assess and monitor the condition of natural assets, identify management issues, and set priorities.

May 5, 2022 – Part II: Level of Service, Valuation and Life-Cycle Costing for Natural Assets: Approaches and examples from CVC-led projects [PDF | RECORDED WEBINAR]
Natural assets provide a variety of ecosystem services, but how can one measure and value the level of service provided by these assets? This critical step builds the capacity of municipalities to effectively manage their natural assets to maintain the services they provide.

This webinar builds on the previous webinar and the municipal case studies in the Credit River Watershed: once we have created a natural asset inventory and assessed asset condition, we can begin to assess level of service provided by natural assets, the monetary value of these services, and the costs of maintaining a sustainable level of service. In this webinar CVC will:

• Discuss how to measure the level of service of natural assets and to predict changes to level of service under various risk and climate scenarios;
• Explore valuation methodology services provided by natural assets, and
• Review life cycle costs for natural asset management and restoration.

September 8, 2021 – Part III: Building Business Case for Natural Assets: Examples and tools from municipalities in the Credit River Watershed) [PDF]
Climate change poses potential risks to our economy, environment, and community well-being. Natural assets – wetlands, forests, and other green space – play a key role in helping communities mitigate and adapt to these impacts and delivers important services, such as flood mitigation and urban heat island reduction. While provincial and federal regulations encourage investment in green infrastructure and natural assets, there is lack of evidence, guidelines, and tools available for municipalities to evaluate cost-benefit scenarios and build the business case for investing in natural assets. CVC will present a suite of financial and asset management planning tools to support municipalities and conservation authorities in addressing these technical gaps. In particular:

• Business Case for Natural Assets (BC4NA) builds evidence and develops guidance for effectively inventorying, measuring, and managing the contribution of natural assets to municipal services delivery, and
• Risk and Return on Investment Tool (RROIT) quantifies financial return on investment by reducing flood and erosion risks with green and natural infrastructure solutions.

Case Study: Niagara Peninsula Watershed Natural Asset Analysis and Valuation (2024)
Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority has completed a comprehensive inventory, condition assessment, and valuation (both for replacement cost and ecosystem services) of their watershed, including a case study of its application to the Town of Fort Erie. To stay up to date with their Natural Asset Project, visit their blog: Nature: The Ultimate Answer to Climate Change | Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority.

Case Study: Grindstone Creek Watershed Natural Assets Management Project (2022)
Grindstone Creek is a 91 km² watershed, located downstream of predominantly rural areas and the Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere. Conservation Halton worked with the Natural Asset Initiative on an inventory, condition assessment, risk assessment, and valuations of this watershed from both an asset management and ecosystem service perspective. The reports above outline their methodology, results, and recommendations. Read the summary of results and recommendations.

Guidebook: Nature is Infrastructure: How to Include Natural Asset in Asset Management Plans (2022)
This guidebook, produced by the Natural Assets Initiative with contributions from six conservation authorities, Conservation Ontario, and municipalities across Canada, provides direction and insight for Canadian local governments who want to integrate natural assets into asset management plans.

It includes specific guidance for meeting O. Reg 588/17 and an appendix on the expertise and support Ontario’s conservation authorities can provide to the natural asset management process.

Toolkit: Green Stormwater Infrastructure Asset Management Resources Toolkit (2021)
TRCA collaborated with the Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition, the Southwest Environment Finance Centre, and select Green Infrastructure Leadership Exchange members, including City of Toronto and City of Vancouver, on an applied research project to develop a Green Stormwater Infrastructure Asset Management Planning Toolkit, which identified emerging best practices for including green infrastructure into asset management.

Report: Life Cycle Costing of Restoration and Environmental Management Actions: Costing Natural Assets in Peel Region (2020)
Credit Valley Conservation worked with consultants to develop a life cycle costing framework and a database with reasonable and defensible life cycle cost estimates for the creation, restoration or rehabilitation and long-term management of key natural assets. (Update planned for 2025)

• Canadian Standards Association (CSA Group) – CSA W218, Specifications for natural asset inventories is a Standard that provides minimum requirements for the development and reporting of a natural asset inventory, which is the first step towards natural asset management. There is a $50 CAD cost associated to read and use this Standard.
• Green Infrastructure Ontario (GIO) – Municipal Hub: Green Infrastructure Resources for Municipalities contains a large collection of toolkits, guides, example asset management plans, case studies and other resources. This hub is no longer being updated.