Recreational, Cultural and Aesthetic Services from Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystems

The role of economic analysis in guiding the sustainable development of estuarine and coastal ecosystems is investigated based on a comprehensive review of the literature on the valuation of the recreation, cultural and aesthetic services. The implications of the findings for the sustainable management of coral reefs, Marine Protected Areas, and Small Island Developing States are discussed. Finally, the potential of meta-analytical benefit transfer and scaling up of values at various aggregation levels is demonstrated in the context of coastal tourism and recreation in Europe. The results of the study support the conclusion that the non-material values provided by coastal and estuarine ecosystems in terms of recreational, cultural and aesthetic services represent a substantial component of human well-being.Aesthetic Values, Coastal Recreation, Coral Reefs, Cultural Values, Ecosystem Services Valuation, Ecosystem Services, Estuarine Ecosystems, Marine Protected Areas, Non-market Valuation, Non-use Values, Passive Values, Recreational Fishing, Small Island Developing States, Spiritual and Religious Values.

Biodiversity Valuation in Developing Countries: A Focus on Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

The Millennium Development Goals explicitly recognise “sustainable development” as a target. A step towards this is a greater understanding of the significant role of biodiversity in rural communities of developing countries who depend most on the ecosystem goods and services and who as a result may suffer most from its continued degradation. Understanding the input of biodiversity in developing countries to the provision of the ecosystem goods and services (EGS) that are essential to their human well-being is seen as a significant first step in sustainable development, and environmental valuation is a necessary tool for achieving this objective. However, valuing biodiversity in a developing country context can be an intricate affair. While economic valuation literature yields a range of tried and tested methodological techniques for measuring biodiversity, the question remains as to whether these generalised techniques are capable of revealing the complexities of local environmental use in developing countries. A heterogeneous group, “developing countries” can be characterised by a range of factors existing in different intensities that can (1) impact the ways in which local communities interact with their environmental resources (2) impact the efficacy of the methodological and data collection process (3) impact the values obtained from the application of valuation techniques and (4) impact the implementation, success and sustainability of policy and management prescriptions. This paper attempts to address these issues by discussing the main characteristics of developing countries that can impact the biodiversity valuation process and, with specific reference to Small Island Developing States (SIDS), discussing how knowledge of these characteristics can assist the valuation process to better reveal the complex interaction between biodiversity and human welfare in a developing country context

Linking vulnerability, adaptation, and mitigation in small island developing states : climate change and the community of Grande Riviere, Trinidad

Meeting: XLII (43rd) Annual Conference of Monetary Studies : “Financial Architecture and Economic Prospects Beyond the Crisis in the Caribbean”, Central Bank of Barbados, November 15th -18th 2011Double inequity prevails in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), where countries that least benefited from greenhouse gas (GHG) unfairly experience the bulk of the effects from climate change, as opposed to those that benefited fully from GHG (developed countries). Simulations utilizing a Vulnerability Index factor led to a series of adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate change at governmental, community and household levels. Results underscore the need for communities of small island states such as Grande Riviere to adopt appropriate measures to deal with climate change impacts, such as induced sea level rise, collectively and effectively

Marine Turtles, Ecosystem Services and Human Welfare in the Marine Ecosystems of the Caribbean Sea: A Discussion of Key Methodologies

It is increasingly recognized that maintaining biodiversity is of fundamental importance toward sustaining human livelihoods. One of the major assets of the region identified as “Latin America and the Caribbean” (LAC) is its biological wealth; by extension, the continued biodiversity loss of the LAC region is seen as one of the world’s principal environmental problems. The marine resources of Caribbean Sea are of vital economic, ecological and social importance to the LAC region, and are under particular threat. Marine turtles play vital roles throughout the Caribbean Sea both in terms of ecological functions and human welfare. Conservation efforts in this direction can often depend on the ability to place a value on welfare changes associated with the loss of ecosystem goods and services into which biodiversity plays an integral role.Using the ecosystem service categories of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, this paper discusses from an inter-disciplinary perspective the methodologies associated with linking marine turtles, ecosystem services and human welfare. While the main economic benefit to be currently valued may stem from the eco-tourism potential surrounding turtle nesting sites, for a true picture of the environmental resources upon which this service depends, it is necessary to also identify the other provisioning, regulating and cultural services of the resource. In this way, human welfare impacts can be more truly judged, and effective resource management can be undertaken.La préservation de la biodiversité est d'une importance fondamentale pour le maintien des moyens de subsistance de l'homme. L'un des atouts majeurs de l’ensemble régional que constitue l'Amérique latine et les Caraïbes (LAC) demeure sa richesse biologique, par extension, toute dégradation de sa biodiversité pose des problèmes environnementaux d’ordre mondial. Les ressources marines de la mer des Caraïbes, qui sont particulièrement menacées, sont d'une importance économique, écologique et sociale vitale pour la région. Les tortues marines jouent un rôle essentiel dans la mer des Caraïbes à la fois en termes de fonctions écologiques et de bien-être humain.En ce sens, les efforts de conservation peuvent de la capacité de chiffrer la valeur sur le bien-être des changements associés à la perte de biens et de services des écosystèmes dans lesquels la biodiversité est partie intégrante. En utilisant les catégories de services des écosystèmes du Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, la présente étude aborde, dans une perspective interdisciplinaire, les méthodologies associées aux interrelations entre les tortues marines, les services écosystémiques et le bien-être de l'homme.Si le principal avantage économique actuellement identifié repose sur le potentiel écotouristique, autour des sites de nidification des tortues, pour une image fidèle des ressources environnementales sur lesquelles ce service repose, il est nécessaire d'identifier également les autres apports de la ressource, en termes de régulations, de services culturels. De cette façon, les impacts sur le bien-être humain peuvent être mieux appréhendés et les ressources peuvent être gérées de façon plus efficace

European Forests and Carbon Sequestration Services: An Economic Assessment of Climate Change Impacts

This paper reports an original economic valuation of the impact of climate change on the provision of forest regulating services in Europe. To the authors’ knowledge the current paper represents the first systematic attempt to estimate human well-being losses with respect to changes in biodiversity and forest regulating services that are directly driven by climate change. First, selected 34 European countries are grouped by their latitude intervals to capture the differentiated regional effects of forests in response to climate change. Moreover, the future trends of forest areas and stocked carbon in 2050 are projected through the construction and simulation of global circulation models such as HADMC3 following four different future developing paths described by the four IPCC scenarios. Finally, the valuation exercise is anchored in an ecosystem service based approach, involving the use of general circulation models and integrated assessment models. Our findings address two dimensions in the evaluation of climate impacts on European forests: Firstly, future projections yield different states of the world depending upon the IPCC scenario adopted. Secondly, spatial issues matter in an assessment of the distributional impacts of climate change, as these impacts are not distributed in a uniform way across the European countries under consideration

Marine Turtles, Ecosystem Services and Human Welfare in the Marine Ecosystems of the Caribbean Sea: A Discussion of Key Methodologies

It is increasingly recognized that maintaining biodiversity is of fundamental importance toward sustaining human livelihoods. One of the major assets of the region identified as “Latin America and the Caribbean” (LAC) is its biological wealth; by extension, the continued biodiversity loss of the LAC region is seen as one of the world’s principal environmental problems. The marine resources of Caribbean Sea are of vital economic, ecological and social importance to the LAC region, and are under particular threat. Marine turtles play vital roles throughout the Caribbean Sea both in terms of ecological functions and human welfare. Conservation efforts in this direction can often depend on the ability to place a value on welfare changes associated with the loss of ecosystem goods and services into which biodiversity plays an integral role.Using the ecosystem service categories of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, this paper discusses from an inter-disciplinary perspective the methodologies associated with linking marine turtles, ecosystem services and human welfare. While the main economic benefit to be currently valued may stem from the eco-tourism potential surrounding turtle nesting sites, for a true picture of the environmental resources upon which this service depends, it is necessary to also identify the other provisioning, regulating and cultural services of the resource. In this way, human welfare impacts can be more truly judged, and effective resource management can be undertaken

Recreational, Cultural and Aesthetic Services from Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystems

The role of economic analysis in guiding the sustainable development of estuarine and coastal ecosystems is investigated based on a comprehensive review of the literature on the valuation of the recreation, cultural and aesthetic services. The implications of the findings for the sustainable management of coral reefs, Marine Protected Areas, and Small Island Developing States are discussed. Finally, the potential of meta-analytical benefit transfer and scaling up of values at various aggregation levels is demonstrated in the context of coastal tourism and recreation in Europe. The results of the study support the conclusion that the non-material values provided by coastal and estuarine ecosystems in terms of recreational, cultural and aesthetic services represent a substantial component of human well-being