Resource information
This paper seeks to clarify how
valuation should be conducted to answer specific
environmental policy questions. In particular, it looks at
how valuation should be used to examine four distinct
aspects of the value of ecosystems: 1) Determining the value
of the total flow of benefits from ecosystems; 2)
Determining the net benefits of interventions that alter
ecosystem conditions: 3) Examining how the costs and
benefits of ecosystems are distributed; and, 4) Identifying
potential financing sources for conservation. These four
approaches are closely linked, and build on each other. They
represent four different ways to look at similar data
regarding the value of an ecosystem: its total value, or
contribution to society, the change in this value if a
conservation action is undertaken, how this change affects
different stakeholders. Each of these approaches to
valuation uses similar data, yet in very different ways,
that is, sometimes at a subset, sometimes looking at a
snapshot, and sometimes looking at changes over time. Each
approach has its uses and its limitations.
