Valuation of Biodiversity Benefits (OECD)

Box 7.2 Categories of Ecosystem ServicesActive1. Commercial uses1.1 Agriculture1.2 Trapping1.3 Mining (including genetic)1.4 Forestry1.5 Fisheries2. Recreational uses2.1 Fishing2.2 Swimming2.3 Hiking2.4 Nature viewing2.5 Hunting2.6 Birding2.7 Boating3. Municipal uses3.1 Groundwater: recharge/discharge3.2 Drinking water purification3.3 Pollution prevention4. Other uses4.1 Aesthetics - visibility, odor, noise4.2 Education/learning opportunities4.3 Research/scientific opportunities4.4 Cultural/spiritual enrichmentPassive5. Property damage avoided5.1 Flooding5.2 Storm, waves, surge5.3 Siltation/sedimentation5.4 Over-nutrification5.5 Noxious weed infestations6. Human health risks/costs avoided6.1 Nutrient cycling6.2 Carbon cycling6.3 Chemical cycling6.4 Oxygen cycling7. Ecosystem health risks avoided7.1 Biodiversity support7.2 Endangered species protection7.3 Protection of ecological infrastructure8. Climate regulation8.1 Global climate effects/attenuation8.2 Microclimate effects/attenuation9. General non-use (can be attached to places, species,features, etc.)9.1 Existence values9.2 Option values9.3 Bequest valuesMonetary and Non-Monetary Measures of Ecosystem ValueMonetary measures of ecosystem valueEconomic values are not the only useful measure of value for ecosystems or anything else.However, in conventional economics, it is generally accepted that a measure of value should be basedon what people want, and that people, not the government, scientists, or preachers, should be the judgeof what they want. Based on this individualistic notion of value, the amount of one thing a person iswilling to give up to get more of something else is considered a fair measure of the relative value ofthe two things in the eyes of that person. Dollars are an enormously useful and universally acceptedbasis for expressing and comparing economic values because the number of dollars that people arewilling to pay for something reflects how much of all other for-sale goods and services they arewilling to give up to get it. In the case of ecosystems it is important that measuring the economicvalue of something based on this notion does not require that it be bought and sold in markets. It onlyrequires that someone estimate how much purchasing power (dollars) people would be willing to giveup to get it (or would need to be paid to give it up) if they were forced to make a choice.The three general approaches to estimating the economic value of ecosystem services areoutlined in Box 7.3. People can reveal the dollar value they place on some services by theirpurchasing decisions; people can express the dollar value they place on some services through125