Valuation of natural capital and ecosystem services
Introduction:
Natural ecosystems
provide many values to society, which have traditionally existed
outside the marketplace - hence been given
zero economic value. The structure and ecological processes
that go on within ecosystems act as natural capital, producing a flow
of ecosystem goods and services that contribute to human well-being.
The U.N.-commissioned Millennium Ecosystem Assessment showed the vital role that ecosystems play
in the everyday lives of all humans, as shown below:
These services are critical to the human economy, but their seeming
abundance, along with lack of a market value has led them to be
underappreciated and
widely degraded. New economic techniques are now being used to
show
the economic value of nature, allowing decision makers to properly
evaluate the risk of lost ecosystem services posed by inappropriate
economic growth, and the full benefits of ecosystem protection and
restoration. Ecosystem service valuation can lead to more accurate
cost-benefit analysis, as well as payments for ecosystem services programs that provide innovative funding mechanisms for conservation.
My recent research and interests include:
A study of ecosystem service values across the Chicago metropolitan area
A classification system for land
cover types that accounts for the various ecological and socioeconomic
characteristics that contribute to the value produced by ecosystems.
"Debunking myths about ecosystem services"
Ecosystem services links:
Ecosystem services research at the Gund Institute/University of Vermont
Introductory website about Ecosystem Valuation
The recently-completed, U.N.-commissioned Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
The National Academy of Science publication "Valuing Ecosystem Services: Toward Better Environmental Decision-Making"
USDA Forest Service Ecosystem Service Ecosystem Valuation
Nature Valuation Network
Stanford's Natural Capital Project
Environmental Valuation & Cost Benefit News
Ecosystem Service Valuation article by WorldChanging
Environmental Valuation Reference Inventory database
World Resources Institute's agenda for managing ecosystem services
Other perspectives on ecosystem services:
"While there may be no 'right' way to value a forest or river, there is
a wrong way, which is to give it no value at all" -
Paul Hawken
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For more information, contact kbagstad@uvm.edu
