Der Wert des Waldes in einer ökonomisierten Welt

Politische Entscheidungsprozesse basieren oft auf Kosten-Nutzen-Analysen. Wenn es in diesen Entscheidungen um Umweltgüter geht, ist in der Regel eine monetäre Bewertung der bereitgestellten Leistungen sinnvoll. Welche Ansätze gibt es für eine ökonomische Bewertung des Waldes, und was bedeutet das für den deutschen Wald

Moorrenaturierung als Klimaschutzmaßnahme

Moore stellt eine erhebliche Quelle von Treibhausgasen dar. Notwendige Klimaschutzmaßnahmen verursachen schon heute erhebliche Kosten. Kann Moorschutz kosteneffektiv zum Klimaschutz beitragen

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 the 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 EES values and provide guidelines and recommendations for future applications and research

GIS-Based Mapping of Ecosystem Services: The Case of Coral Reefs

This chapter illustrates the process of mapping ecosystem service values with an application to coral reef recreational values in Southeast Asia. The case study provides an estimate of the value of reef-related recreation foregone, due to the decline in coral reef area in Southeast Asia, under a baseline scenario for the period 2000 – 2050. This value is estimated by combining a visitor model, meta-analytic value function and spatial data on individual coral reef ecosystems to produce site-specific values. Values are mapped in order to communicate the spatial variability in the value of coral reef degradation. Although the aggregated change in the value of reef-related recreation due to ecosystem degradation is not high, there is substantial spatial variation in welfare losses, which is potentially useful information for targeting conservation efforts

Mapping the Recreational Value of Non-Urban Ecosystems across Europe: Combining Meta-Analysis and GIS

We map recreational visits and the economic value per visit spatially explicit across Europe’s non-urban ecosystems using GIS, meta-analysis and geostatistical modelling techniques. Therefore, we develop a meta-analytic visitor arrival function and a meta-analytic value transfer function by regression analysis. Primary data on the dependent variables are collected from visitor monitoring and valuation studies. We analyse more than 225 studies including visitor counts and value estimates to more than 550 separate case study areas. Focusing on continuous spatial biophysical and socio-economic predictor variables, we identify underlying spatial drivers of recreational ecosystem service values. By combining our models with spatial explanatory variable layers we predict annual recreational visits and the value per visit on a one km² resolution across Europe. The resulting maps illustrate spatial variations of recreational visitor numbers and the value per visit. In total we predict about 11 billion annual visits to Europe’s non-urban ecosystems amounting an economic value of € 57 billion. Comparing our estimates with mean/unit value transfers reveals that the spatial variations of visitor numbers are substantially more important for determining the recreational value per ha than variations in the value per visit

Monitoring recreation across European nature areas: A geo-database of visitor counts, a review of literature and a call for a visitor counting reporting standard

Nature recreation and tourism is a substantial ecosystem service of Europe’s countryside that has a substantial economic value and contributes considerably to income and employment of local communities. Highlighting the recreational value and economic contribution of nature areas can be used as a strong argument for the funding of protected and recreational areas. The total number of recreational visits of a nature area has been recognised as a major determinant of its economic recreational value and its contribution to local economies. This paper presents an international geodatabase on recreational visitor numbers to non-urban ecosystems, containing 1,267 observations at 518 separate case study areas throughout Europe. The monitored sites are described by their centroid coordinates and shape files displaying the exact extension of the sites. Therefore, the database illustrates the spatial distribution of visitor counting throughout Europe and can be used for secondary research, such as for validation of spatially explicit recreational ecosystem service models and for identifying relevant drivers of recreational ecosystem services. To develop the database, we review visitor monitoring literature throughout Europe and give an overview of such activities with special attention to visitor counting. We identify one major shortcoming in available literature, which relates to the presentation, study area definition and methodological reporting of conducted visitor counting studies. Insufficient reporting hampers the identification of the study area, the comparability of different studies and the evaluation of the studies’ quality. Based on our findings, we propose a standardised reporting template for visitor counting studies and advanced data sharing for recreational visitor data. Researchers and institutions are invited to report on their visitor counting studies via our web interface at rris.biopama.org/visitor-reporting to contribute to a global visitor database that will be shared via the ESP Visualisation tool (http://esp-mapping.net)

Räumlich explizite Modellierung von Erholungs-Ökosystemleistungen

Spatial assessments and mapping of ecosystem service values has become a widely addressed research issue. It is more and more used to consult land-use and conservation policies as well as landscape planning. Nevertheless, a variety of methods is used for ecosystem service value mapping, which lead to maps with a broad range of quality and accuracy. Still, little consensus has been reached on what method to use best for specific applications. This thesis provides guidelines and recommendations for future applications and research in monetary ecosystem service value mapping. Therefore, a broad literature review is presented that identifies current practices and developments in the mapping of EES values. Based on the findings, a best-practice approach for ESS value mapping is proposed that separates between the mapping of ESS supply in biophysical units and the mapping of the economic value per biophysical unit of ESS supply. The proposed approach is implemented and illustrated for recreational ecosystem services of non-urban ecosystems at European scale. Therefore, geostatistical models are developed and applied to predict recreational visitor numbers. In a second step, a spatial meta-analytic-value transfer function is developed and applied to map the monetary value per recreational visit. For both steps, primary data is combined with GIS explanatory variable layers in geostatistical regression analysis (general linear models, mixed models, spatial auto-correlation) to identify the spatial drivers of recreational use and its values. The collection of primary data, the development of spatial GIS predictor layers and the geo-statistical models are elaborated. Recommendations for future applications are given. For primary data of recreational visitor counts the collected data is presented in a geo-database and the relevant literature on visitor counting is reviewed to give recommendations in this domain. The results exemplify how to best map ESS values by incorporating the spatial dimensions of ESS supply and demand.Die räumliche Analyse und die Kartierung von Werten ökosystemarer Leistungen ist seit einigen Jahren ein äußerst aktueller Forschungsgegenstand. Zunehmend wird es auch in der Landschaftsplanung, zur Beratung von Landnutzungspolitiken und im Naturschutz verwendet. Dennoch werden eine Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Methoden verwendet, die die sich in ihrer Qualität stark unterscheiden. Bisher gibt es keinen Konsens über die Auswahl bestimmter Methoden für bestimmte Anwendungsfälle. Im Rahmen dieser Doktorarbeit werden Methodiken zur bestmöglichen Kartierung monetärer Werte von Ökosystemdienstleitungen analysiert, erarbeitet und empfohlen. Dazu wird zunächst ein umfassender Literaturüberblick vorgenommen, in dem vergangene Studien analysiert und Empfehlungen für zukünftige Studien abgeleitet werden. Die empfohlene Methodik unterscheidet zwischen der räumlichen Modellierung von biophysikalischen Einheiten des Angebots von Ökosystemdienstleistungen und der räumlichen Modellierung des ökonomischen Wertes von Ökosystemdienstleistung pro biophysikalischer Einheit. Die empfohlene Methodik wird anhand der Kartierung des Erholungswertes nicht-urbaner Ökosysteme für gesamt Europa illustriert. Dazu werden auf der Grundlage von Besucherzählungen, Bewertungsstudien und GIS-Daten geo-statistische Modelle entwickelt (multiple lineare Regression, gemischte Modelle mit festen und zufälligen Effekten, räumliche Autokorrelation). Anhand der Modelle lassen sich die räumlichen Einflussfaktoren der Besucherzahlen und des Wertes je Besuch identifizieren, und zudem werden die Modelle für räumlich explizite Modellierungen und Vorhersagen von Besucherzahlen und Wert je Besuch verwendet (meta-analytic value transfer). Die Erhebung der Primärdaten, die Entwicklung von räumlichen erklärenden GIS-Variablen und die geo-statistische Modellierung werden hierzu erarbeitet, analysiert und auf dieser Grundlage werden Empfehlungen für weitere Forschung abgeleitet. Im Hinblick auf Primärdaten wird insbesondere für die Erhebungen von Besucherzahlen in Naturschutzgebieten die Literatur ausgewertet, Empfehlungen zur Datenerhebung gegeben und eine Geodatenbank zu Besucherzahlen erarbeitet und bereitgestellt. Somit wird erläutert und veranschaulicht, wie monetäre Werte von Ökosystemdienstleistungen bestmöglich unter der Berücksichtigung der räumlichen Dimension von Nachfrage und Angebot (Bereitstellung) kartiert werden können

Mapping recreational visits and values of European National Parks by combining statistical modelling and unit value transfer

Recreation is a major ecosystem service and an important co-benefit of nature conservation. The recreational value of National Parks (NPs) can be a strong argument in favour of allocating resources for preserving and creating NPs worldwide. Managing NPs to optimize recreational services can therefore indirectly contribute to nature conservation and biodiversity protection. Understanding the drivers of recreational use of national parks is crucial. In this study we use a combination of primary data on annual visitor counts for 205 European NPs, GIS and statistical regression techniques to analyse how characteristics of NPs and their surroundings influence total annual recreational visitor numbers. The statistical model can be used for land-use planning by assessing the impact of alternative conservation scenarios on recreational use in NPs. The recreational use of new NPs can be estimated ex-ante, thereby aiding the optimisation of their location and design. We apply the model to: (1) map recreational visits to potential new NPs across Europe in order to identify best NP location; (2) map recreational visits to a proposed new NP in the west of Germany in order estimate monetary values and to show how visits are distributed across the site; and (3) predict annual visits to all NPs of 26 European countries. Total annual visits amount to more than 2 billion annually. Assuming a mean value per visit derived from 244 primary value estimates indicates that these visits result in a consumer surplus of approximately € 14.5 billion annually

Spatial dimensions of recreational ecosystem service values: A review of meta-analyses and a combination of meta-analytic value-transfer and GIS

This paper investigates spatial determinants of recreational ecosystem service values by combining Geographic Information System (GIS) and meta-analysis, and by presenting the first review on meta-analysis studies in this field. Using meta-analytic value transfer, we map the spatial distribution of recreational values across Europe. By combining meta-analysis and GIS we identify spatial biophysical and socio-economic determinants of recreational ecosystem service values. Nevertheless, comparing the results of past meta-analyses reveals difficulties in establishing robust relationships between spatial variables and recreational values per visit, as existing meta-analyses show contradicting results and methodological variables show stronger effects. Based on our findings we give guidance on how to improve geostatistical analysis within future meta-analyses on ecosystem service valuation studies. Furthermore, we find that spatial variations of recreational visitor numbers are by far greater than variations of the value per visit. Therefore, we conclude that accurate estimates of visitor numbers are of greater relevance than accurate estimates of the value per visit

Mapping ecosystem services for policy support and decision making in the European Union

Mainstreaming ecosystem services into policy and decision making is dependent on the availability of spatially explicit information on the state and trends of ecosystems and their services. In particular, the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 addresses the need to account for ecosystem services through biophysical mapping and valuation. This paper reviews current mapping methods, identifies current knowledge gaps and provides the elements for a methodological framework for mapping and assessing ecosystems and their services at European scale. Current mapping methodologies go beyond purely land cover based assessments and include the use of primary data of ecosystem services, the use of functional traits to map ecosystem services and the development of models and ecological production functions. Additional research is needed to cover marine ecosystems and to include the resilience of ecosystems to environmental change in spatially explicit assessments. The ecosystem services cascade which connects ecosystems to human wellbeing is argued to provide a suitable, stepwise framework for mapping ecosystem services in order to support EU policies in a more effective way. We demonstrate the use of this framework for mapping using the water purification service as case