September 9, 2025 — A push in Virginia to invest in shorelines and marshes may be paying off. Natural wetlands and man-made living shorelines around Virginia’s Middle Peninsula generate just under $90 million of economic value each year, according to a new study led by William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS.
The Middle Peninsula (Gloucester, Mathews, & Middlesex counties) has been a Habitat Focus Area of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) since 2022. That Office funded the study, which combines ecological data, spatial modeling, economic valuation, and surveys to assess the current and predicted benefits of marsh ecosystems. Researchers used numbers from the study to develop a new online tool for coastal communities to estimate the economic benefits of marsh and living shoreline projects. It’s known as SHORE-BET (Shoreline Benefit Estimation Tool).
“This study looks at wetlands from a number of perspectives and puts research-informed values on the benefits they provide,” said Donna Bilkovic, professor and assistant director of the Center for Coastal Resources Management at the Batten School & VIMS. “These data serve as the foundation for SHORE-BET, allowing local planners and individual landowners to better understand the potential environmental and economic benefits associated with living shoreline projects and marsh protection and restoration.”