The Economics of Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in Ontario

Table of Contents
Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................................. iii
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 1
2. Economic benefits from ecosystem services and biodiversity ............................................................................... 2
What are they, and why are they valuable?.......................................................................................................... 2
Why are many benefits without a price?.............................................................................................................. 2
How are ecosystem goods and services different, or are they? ............................................................................. 2
Why do ecosystem services and biodiversity need protection? ............................................................................. 3
What happens if they are not protected? .............................................................................................................. 3
How is the economy impacted by a decline in their unpriced benefits? ................................................................ 3
3. Economic valuation of ecosystem services and biodiversity ................................................................................. 5
What is economic valuation? .............................................................................................................................. 5
When should valuation be considered? ............................................................................................................... 5
What techniques can be used to value unpriced benefits? .................................................................................... 6
When can valuation results be transferred? ......................................................................................................... 7
Should ecosystem services be valued as a bundle or as components? ................................................................... 8
How should valuation deal with space? ............................................................................................................... 8
How should valuation deal with time? ................................................................................................................ 8
4. How valuation can be used to support sustainability .......................................................................................... 10
What is sustainability? ...................................................................................................................................... 10
How does natural capital relate to sustainability? .............................................................................................. 10
How should valuation inform sustainability?..................................................................................................... 11
How can valuation inform development decisions? ........................................................................................... 11
How can valuation support ecosystem rehabilitation? ........................................................................................ 12
How can valuation support additional protected areas? ...................................................................................... 13
How can valuation support existing protected areas? ......................................................................................... 13
How can studies be appraised? ......................................................................................................................... 14
5. Economic valuation in Ontario .......................................................................................................................... 15
How much Ontario-specific valuation information exists? ................................................................................. 15
What about the Far North? ........................................................................................................................... 15
What about the settled areas on the Shield? ................................................................................................... 16
What about the southern settled areas?.......................................................................................................... 16
What about the Great Lakes? ........................................................................................................................ 16
How is valuation considered in Ontario public policy? ...................................................................................... 17
How is valuation considered outside of the Ontario government? ...................................................................... 18
How is valuation being interpreted in Canadian law? ........................................................................................ 19
What challenges the broader use of valuation in decision-making? .................................................................... 19
What are Ontario’s valuation needs from a sustainability perspective? .............................................................. 20
What could help Ontario to understand its conservation needs? ......................................................................... 20