The environmental benefits of investment in agricultural science and technology: an application of global spatial benefit transfer

Food security is a major current and future policy concern. The world population is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050 and continuing growth in economic output and incomes is expected to result in changing food consumption patterns. In particular the wider adoption of ‘Western’ diets will result in both higher calorie intake and greater meat consumption. Continuing climate change is expected to add further pressures to agricultural production. This paper presents the results of a global analysis funded by the TEEB study on the environmental benefits of investment in agricultural knowledge, science and technology, specifically in terms of closing the gaps between developing and developed country agricultural productivity. The results show that by easing pressures on land use change on terrestrial biomes (forests and grasslands), and the ecosystem services they provide, investment in agricultural science and technology provides environmental benefits of US$161.3bn per annum in 2050. Between 2000 and 2050 these benefits amount to US$2,964bn in addition to US$6,343bn in carbon benefits and compare to costs of US$5,68bnResearch and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

The global costs and benefits of expanding Marine Protected Areas

Marine ecosystems and the services they provide contribute greatly to human well-being but are becoming degraded in many areas around the world. The expansion of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) has been advanced as a potential solution to this problem but their economic feasibility has hardly been studied. We conduct an economic assessment of the costs and benefits of six scenarios for the global expansion of MPAs. The analysis is conducted at a high spatial resolution, allowing the estimated costs and benefits to reflect the ecological and economic characteristics and context of each MPA and marine ecosystem. The results show that the global benefits of expanding MPAs exceed their costs by a factor 1.4–2.7 depending on the location and extent of MPA expansion. Targeting protection towards pristine areas with high biodiversity yields higher net returns than focusing on areas with low biodiversity or areas that have experienced high human impact

Cultural bequest values for ecosystem service flows among indigenous fishers: A discrete choice experiment validated with mixed methods

a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Perhaps the most understudied ecosystem services are related to socio-cultural values tied to non-material benefits arising from human-ecosystem relationships. Bequest values linked to natural ecosystems can be particularly significant for indigenous communities whose livelihoods and cultures are tied to ecosystems. Here we apply a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to determine indigenous fishers' preferences and willingness-to-pay for bequest gains from management actions in a locally managed marine area in Madagascar, and use our results to estimate an implicit discount rate. We validate our results using a unique rating and ranking game and other mixed methods. We find that bequest is highly valued and important; respondents were willing to pay a substantial portion of their income to protect ecosystems for future generations. Through all of our inquiries, bequest emerged as the highest priority, even when respondents were forced to make trade-offs among other livelihood-supporting ecosystem services. This study is among a relative few to quantify bequest values and apply a DCE to model trade-offs, value ecosystem service flows, and estimate discount rates in a developing country. Our results directly inform coastal management in Madagascar and elsewhere by providing information on the socio-cultural value of bequest in comparison to other ecosystem service benefits

Values of natural and human-made wetlands: A meta-analysis

The values of goods and services provided by wetland ecosystems are examined through a meta-analysis of an expanded database of wetland value estimates and with a focus on human-made wetlands. This study extends and improves upon previous meta-analyses of the wetland valuation literature in terms of the number of observations, geographical coverage, wetland class and integrity, and the measurement of the effects of scarcity and anthropogenic pressure. We find that water quality improvement, nonconsumptive recreation, and provision of natural habitat and biodiversity are highly valued services. Substitution effects are observed through the negative correlation between values and abundance of other wetlands. Wetland values are found to increase with anthropogenic pressure. An extended metaregression model with cross effects shows that the valuation of specific services varies with the type of wetland producing them. Human-made wetlands are highly valued for biodiversity enhancement, water quality improvement, and flood control

Partial costs of global climate change adaptation for the supply of raw industrial and municipal water: a methodology and application

Despite growing recognition of the importance of climate change adaptation, few global estimates of the costs involved are available for the water supply sector. We present a methodology for estimating partial global and regional adaptation costs for raw industrial and domestic water supply, for a limited number of adaptation strategies, and apply the method using results of two climate models. In this paper, adaptation costs are defined as those for providing enough raw water to meet future industrial and municipal water demand, based on country-level demand projections to 2050. We first estimate costs for a baseline scenario excluding climate change, and then additional climate change adaptation costs. Increased demand is assumed to be met through a combination of increased reservoir yield and alternative backstop measures. Under such controversial measures, we project global adaptation costs of $12 bn p.a., with 83-90$73 bn p.a.), which supports the notion of mainstreaming climate change adaptation into broader policy aims. The method provides a tool for estimating broad costs at the global and regional scale; such information is of key importance in international negotiations. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd

Vulnerability and adaptation of US shellfisheries to ocean acidification

Ocean acidification is a global, long-term problem whose ultimate solution requires carbon dioxide reduction at a scope and scale that will take decades to accomplish successfully. Until that is achieved, feasible and locally relevant adaptation and mitigation measures are needed. To help to prioritize societal responses to ocean acidification, we present a spatially explicit, multidisciplinary vulnerability analysis of coastal human communities in the United States. We focus our analysis on shelled mollusc harvests, which are likely to be harmed by ocean acidification. Our results highlight US regions most vulnerable to ocean acidification (and why), important knowledge and information gaps, and opportunities to adapt through local actions. The research illustrates the benefits of integrating natural and social sciences to identify actions and other opportunities while policy, stakeholders and scientists are still in relatively early stages of developing research plans and responses to ocean acidification.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the Nature Publishing Group and can be found at: http://www.nature.com/nclimate/index.html

Willingness to pay of trail runners for sustainable country park use in Hong Kong

Trail running has evolved from a fringe to mainstream activity but is associated with a rise in adverse environmental impacts including trail degradation, littering and disturbance of wildlife. This study explores the preferences of trail running race participants for sustainable use of country parks in Hong Kong. We use a face-to-face survey and discrete choice experiment methodology to measure the willingness to pay of race participants for the provision of drinking water fountains, biodiversity conservation, trail maintenance and green auditing of race events. The results suggest that there is a latent desire among trail runners to contribute to the preservation of natural areas through a surcharge on top of race entry fees. Mean willingness to pay for the provision of drinking water, conservation of biodiversity and trail maintenance is estimated in 2018 to be USD 12, USD 19 and USD 24 respectively. Furthermore, from stakeholder interviews it is concluded that the proposed fund-raising mechanism of a surcharge on top of the race entry fee would be readily accepted by trail runners, race organisers, NGOs and the government. This paper presents a practical and acceptable model that tackles environmental degradation caused by trail running whilst instigating a more democratic management approach between the government and other park stakeholders

The valuation of wetlands: Primary versus meta-analysis based value transfer

The wetland valuation literature is extremely rich in the sense that there exists an avalanche of studies in which attempts are being made to determine use and nonuse values of wetlands. Non-use values of wetlands are unrelated to any direct, indirect, or future use, but rather reflect the economic value that can be attached to the mere existence of a wetland. The Norfolk and Suffolk Broads in the East of England is Britain’s largest nationally protected wetland, covering an area of 30,300 hectares. Direct use values are derived from the uses made of a wetland’s resources and services for example, wood for energy or building, water for irrigation and the natural environment for recreation. A source of error that is specific to meta-analysis based value transfer results from the common limitation of valuation meta-analyses to capture differences in the quality and quantity of the services under consideration

A generic marginal value function for natural areas

We conduct a CV and a CE experiment using a generic rather than a situation-specific study design in order to obtain a generic marginal value function for different types of natural areas with different characteristics in the Netherlands. We develop a modelling approach in which we use CV and CE choice data in one model. The value function obtained shows that people attach value to the presence of natural areas, and that these values vary due to differences in the magnitude of areas, in distance to areas, and differences in accessibility and fragmentation of natural areas. We discuss how the value function can be used to incorporate potential substitution between natural areas. We also show that for approximately one-fifth of our sample there is no added value having any kind of natural area nearby and that people living in small municipalities tend to be indifferent between accessible and inaccessible areas. Our approach produces a generic marginal value function, which may be used to inform cost–benefit analyses and land use planning decisions that wish to incorporate positive and negative welfare externalities related to changes in the provision of natural areas. However, we also show that applying this value function to the regional or local scale may produce biased value estimates

Mapping Ecosystem Services’ Values: Current Practice and Future Prospects

Mapping of ecosystem services’ (ESS) values means valuing ESS in monetary terms across a relatively large geographical area and assessing how values vary across space. Thereby, mapping of ESS values reveals additional information as compared to traditional site-specific ESS valuation, which is beneficial for designing land use policies for maintaining ESS supply. Since the well-known article by Costanza et al. (1997), who mapped global ESS values, the number of publications mapping ESS values has grown exponentially, with almost 60% being published after 2007. Within this paper, we analyse and review articles that map ESS values. Our findings show that methodologies, in particular how spatial variations of ESS values are estimated, their spatial scope, rational and ESS focus differ widely. Still, most case studies rely on relatively simplistic approaches using land use/cover data as a proxy for ESS supply and its values. However, a tendency exists towards more sophisticated methodologies using ESS models and value functions, which integrate a variety of spatial variables and which are validated against primary data. Based on our findings, we identify current practices and developments in the mapping of ESS values and provide guidelines and recommendations for future applications and research