Remunerating conservation: The Faustmann-Hartmann approach and its limits

The method introduced by Faustmmm and extended by Hartman is used for calculating present values of forestry assetts under various conditions and for determining the optimal rotation. The approach is not stochastic and very simple. The forest benefit contemplated additional to timber is the conservation of biodiversity. It is well established that the redevelopment of old forests including decay stages is by far the most efficient measure to enhance the survival chances of endangered species. For simplicity, it is assumed that the forest 's value increases linearly with age. For this case, it is not only easy to calculate the payments necessary to incite the forest owner to delay the time of harvest, hut also to give a simple condition for it becoming profitable to abstain from wood harvesting altogether. A numerical simulation is carried out using data from typical Central European beech forests (Fagus sylvatica). Payments and present values capable of persuading owners never to harvest are very high, as compared to conventional income from forestry. Society has to decide on the basis 01 its value judgements whether or not such payments are warranted important problems include liquidity and risk, the choice of an interest rate, forest management costs and the necessity of spatial planning. It is concluded that without financial incentives the perspectives for conservation in forestry are precarious, at least in Germany. On the other hand, a fair remuneration is only one measure and cannot alone salve the problems. It has to be integrated info a bundle of appropriate planning instruments. --

Die monetäre Bewertung von Naturgütern zwischen ökonomischer Theorie und politischer Umsetzung

During the past 15 or so years, a considerable number of valuation studies have been published in German language concerning nature conservation mostly in the agrarian countryside, using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). These are documented here and briefly commented on. In the sequel, well-known objections in the literature against this method are discussed and rejected or at least attenuated, thereby referring to more comprehensive literature. Upon careful design, the results from CVM studies bear closer examination as to their reliability. It seems doubtful, however, and must even be regarded as refuted in some special cases that their very objective, as formulated from a rigorous microeconomic position, is achieved, that is the disclosure of the Compensating Variation (VC) or Equivalent Variation (EV), respectively. Respondents’ statements are influenced both by their experience in achieving a consumer surplus in everyday purchases and – more importantly – by normative, ethical, distributive and genuine political aspects. Intuitively, respondents realise the societal nature of the respective problems and are reluctant to communicate exclusively in individualistic terms of modern utility theory. It is argued that no adverse consequences ensue from this finding when CVM results are practically applied for the sake of improving economic allocation. Nature conservation policy should be more oriented towards CVM results rather than depend on the influence of political pressure groups.nature conservation, Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), Compensating Variation (CV), Equivalent Variation (EV), application of CVM results, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Vegetation and soil conditions of pre-forests on the isle of Usedom

The vegetation and ecological conditions of five pre-forests on the island of Usedom (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), developed on former fields through spontaneous succession, were investigated. The establishment of different successional forests under identical climatic conditions was caused mainly by soil conditions. Based on species groups and dominating trees, Vaccinium myrtillus-Pinus sylvestris-, Vaccinium myrtillus-Oxalis acetosella-Populus tremula-, Oxalis acetosella-Betula pendula- and Festuca gigantea-Acer pseudoplatanus-Pre-Forests were distinguished. The birch forest exhibits the best development among deciduous woodland species. Species of nutrient poor and acid conditions are rarer then species with preference to nutrient and base rich conditions and the pre-forests are characterized by different distribution of indicator species, as shown in an analysis of the Ellenberg ecological indicator values. The sandy, moderatly moist soils are characterized by different soil reaction and nutrient gradients. Pre-Forests with deciduous trees show narrow C/N-relations and different pH values. In the pine pre-forests differences in nitrogen contents are reflected in the vegetation. The agricultural use ended between 1955 and 1970. The date of cessiation of agricultural use and the degree of nitrogen accumulation may be important for the ensuring course of succession. As shown in the investigation methods and results of forests site diagnostics are a main basis for characterization of successional forests. Anthropogenic changes if site conditions lead to different developments, which need continuously inspection of vegetation and site conditions in the middle European countryside.Auf der Insel Usedom (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) wurden vegetations- und standortkundliche Untersuchungen in fünf Vorwäldern, die sich nach Aufgabe der Ackernutzung durch spontane Sukzession entwickelten, durchgeführt. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass sich unter den gegebenen klimatischen Verhältnissen insbesondere in Abhängigkeit von den Bodenverhältnissen verschiedene Bestände etablieren können. Aufgrund der auftretenden Formengruppen und dominierenden Baumarten konnten zwei Blaubeer-Kiefern-Vorwälder sowie je ein Blaubeer-Sauerklee-Pappel-, Sauerklee-Birkenund Riesenschwingel-Berg-Ahorn-Vorwald ausgewiesen werden. Die beste Verjüngung von Arten mesophiler Laubmischwälder tritt im Birken-Vorwald auf. Die Analyse der Zeigerwerte von Ellenberg zeigt, dass insgesamt sowohl Arten stickstoffarmer als auch bodensaurer Standorte deutlich weniger vertreten sind als Arten stickstoff- und basenreicher Böden und dass Unterschiede zwischen den einzelnen Beständen auftreten. Die überwiegend durch schluffige Sande gekennzeichneten, mäßig frischen Standorte weisen Unterschiede in den pHWerten und der Stamm-Nährkraftstufe auf. Die Vorwälder mit Laubbaumarten sind durchweg durch enge C/N-Verhältnisse sowie die Humusform mullartiger Moder gekennzeichnet und weisen in pH-Werten und der Basensättigung Unterschiede auf. In den Blaubeer-Kiefern-Vorwäldern treten deutliche Unterschiede in den Stickstoffgehalten der Auflagehumusformen auf, die sich in der Vegetation widerspiegeln. Die Nutzungsaufgabe erfolgte zwischen etwa 1955 und 1970, für den Verlauf der Sukzession kann, aufgrund der zunehmenden Akkumulation von Stickstoff, auch der Zeitpunkt der Nutzungsaufgabe relevant sein. Mit der vorliegenden Untersuchung wird gezeigt, dass die im Rahmen der forstlichen Standorterkundung erarbeiteten Methoden und Ergebnisse auch für die Charakterisierung der Sukzessionswälder eine wichtige Grundlage darstellen. Unter den gegenwärtigen, anthropogen veränderten Standortbedingungen sind zum Teil andere Entwicklungen als die bisher im Rahmen der forstlichen Standortkartierung aufgezeigten Vegetationsentwicklungen möglich. Eine Weiterführung kombinierter vegetations- und standortkundlicher Arbeiten unter den aufgrund des Landnutzungswandels veränderten Bedingungen der mitteleuropäischen Kulturlandschaft ist erforderlich

Emergency-call Systems Based on Human Vital and System-technical Parameters in a Smart-home Environment

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Dank der Fortschritte in der Mikrotechnologie und in der Funktechnik ist es heute möglich, besonders zuverlässige Personennotrufsysteme zu realisieren. Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden Systeme diskutiert,die im Wohnbereich Einsatz finden und zur Sicherheit und Unabhängigkeit in der gewohnten Umgebung beitragen. Speziell ältere Personen mit Behinderungen, Personen, die bereits durch Stürze oder Unfälle verunsichert sind, und hochbetagte Alleinstehende benötigen im Notfall schnelle Hilfe. Es wird der Stand der Technik bei Notrufverfahren unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Nutzens für ältere Menschen beschrieben. Bisherige Systeme verwenden fast ausschließlich einen sogenannten Funkfinger, mit dem ein Alarm manuell ausgelöst werden kann, was sich bei manchen Notfall-Situationen jedoch als nicht genügend zuverlässig erweist. Als Alternative oder auch Ergänzung werden daher Systeme vorgeschlagen,die einen Notfall automatisch durch Messen und Auswerten von Vitalparametern erfassen und selbsttätig einen Alarm auslösen können. Ergänzend dazu lassen sich in einer Smart-Home-Umgebung mit vernetzten Komponenten weitere Parameter (sogenannte Umwelt-Parameter) zur Notrufentscheidung verwenden.Dabei zeigt sich, daß die Erkennung einer Notfallsituation um so zuverlässiger wird, je mehr Einzelparameter man zur Entscheidung heranzieht.Progress in microtechnology and radio transmission technology has enabled the development of highly reliable emergency-call systems.The present article describes systems that have been specially designed to improve the safety and independence of handicapped and elderly persons living at home. For such persons immediate help in an emergency situation is of crucial importance. The technical state of the art of emergency-call systems specially developed for use by the elderly, is briefly discussed, in particular the well-known radio emergency-call button, with the aid of which an alarm canbe activated manually. This system, however, does not offer adequate safety in all emergency situations. Alternative or complementary systems designed to automatically trigger an alarm on the basis of the recording and evaluation of so-called vital parameters, are therefore proposed. In addition, in a smart-home environment with networked devices, further parameters - so-called environment parameters can be used. It is found that the identification of an emergency situation becomes more reliable as the number of parameters employed increases

Mapping the species richness and composition of tropical forests from remotely sensed data with neural networks

The understanding and management of biodiversity is often limited by a lack of data. Remote sensing has considerable potential as a source of data on biodiversity at spatial and temporal scales appropriate for biodiversity management. To-date, most remote sensing studies have focused on only one aspect of biodiversity, species richness, and have generally used conventional image analysis techniques that may not fully exploit the data's information content. Here, we report on a study that aimed to estimate biodiversity more fully from remotely sensed data with the aid of neural networks. Two neural network models, feedforward networks to estimate basic indices of biodiversity and Kohonen networks to provide information on species composition, were used. Biodiversity indices of species richness and evenness derived from the remotely sensed data were strongly correlated with those derived from field survey. For example, the predicted tree species richness was significantly correlated with that observed in the field (r=0.69, significant at the 95% level of confidence). In addition, there was a high degree of correspondence (?83%) between the partitioning of the outputs from Kohonen networks applied to tree species and remotely sensed data sets that indicated the potential to map species composition. Combining the outputs of the two sets of neural network based analyses enabled a map of biodiversity to be produce

Agri-Environmental Policy Measures in Israel: The Potential of Using Market-Oriented Instruments

This paper examines the possibilities of developing agri-environmental policy measures in Israel, focusing on market-oriented instruments. A conceptual framework for developing agri-environmental policy measures is presented, first in very broad lines (mandatory regulations, economic instruments and advisory measures) and subsequently focusing on economic instruments, and specifically, on market-oriented ones. Two criteria of choice between the measures are suggested: their contribution to improving the effectiveness of the policy; and the feasibility of their implementation. This is the framework used for analyzing agri-environmental measures in Israel. Israel currently implements a mix of mandatory regulations, economic instruments and advisory measures to promote the agri-environment. The use of additional economic instruments may improve the effectiveness of the policy. When comparing the effectiveness of various economic measures, we found that the feasibility of implementation of market-oriented instruments is greater, due to the Israeli public’s preference for strengthening market orientation in the agricultural sector. Four market-oriented instruments were practiced in a pilot project conducted in an Israeli rural area. We found that in this case study, the institutional feasibility and acceptance by stakeholders were the major parameters influencing the implementation of the market-oriented instruments, whereas the instruments’ contribution to enhancing the ecological or economic effectiveness were hardly considered by the stakeholders as arguments in favor of their use

Remunerating conservation: the Faustmann-Hartman approach and its limits

SIGLEAvailable from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, Duesternbrook Weg 120, D-24105 Kiel W 1137 (98.11) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Costs and benefits of conservation: a contribution to the theoretical framework and a report from a case study

Summary in GermanSIGLEAvailable from Bibliothek des Instituts fuer Weltwirtschaft, ZBW, Duesternbrook Weg 120, D-24105 Kiel W 443 (29) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman