POLLINATORS POLLINATION AND FOOD PRODUCTION

THE ASSESSMENT REPORT ON POLLINATORS, POLLINATION AND FOOD PRODUCTION
economically. Consequently, the methods of valuing the
impact of pollinator and pollination gains and losses can
range from very simple to very complex at several levels.
studies that used the methodologies presented in this
chapter. The chapter ends with a synthesis of all these
sections 8.
The chapter starts with an outline of some frequently asked
questions on economic valuation of nature and ecosystem
services, with emphasis on pollinator gains and losses.
Section 1 then presents the rationale behind economic
valuation of pollinators and pollination. Section 2 critically
reviews the range of methodologies that have been applied
to quantify the benefits of pollination services. The strengths
and weaknesses of each method are also discussed, in
terms of their ecological and economic validity as well as the
capacity to extrapolate the values to different spatial scales
and data requirements are outlined for each one. Valuation
may vary relatively according to the ecological or biological
functioning of the ecosystems that support pollinators, the
spatial and temporal specificity of the pollinating animals,
and the value given by the consumers or beneficiaries of
the final good obtained by this service (Farber et al., 2002;
Fisher et al., 2009). Section 3 focuses on temporal and
spatial scale effects on the economic valuation, including
tools for integrating these factors into valuation. Economic
valuation tends to assume that the consequences of
pollination service loss are precisely known. However,
decision-making is confronted with stochastic relations
between events, giving rise to a number of factors that can
significantly affect the economic value of pollinator gains and
losses. Section 4 considers the effects of economic risk and
uncertainty inherent to pollination services (e.g., fluctuations
in service delivery or market prices) and pollinator
community resilience, including methods to quantify and
value these factors. Section 5 reviews knowledge gaps
related to the economic valuation of pollinators, covering
agronomic, ecological and economic knowledge that could
be used to improve value estimates. Section 6 reviews
the applied use of these economic valuations for decisionmaking,
reviewing the stakeholders concerned with these
valuations and, for each of them, how they should interpret
the values and use them. Finally, Section 7 analyses case
FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
In this section, we briefly outline some common frequently
asked questions on economic valuation of nature and
ecosystem services, with emphasis on pollinator gains and
losses. We briefly explain the approach adopted in this
chapter, and direct the reader to specific sections where this
is discussed in detail in this chapter. We hope this section
clarifies the benefits and the limits of economic valuation.
1. Are economic values the same
as prices?
Distinction must be drawn between prices and values.
Prices are the monetary exchange rate of a good on a
market, or information that institutions (including markets)
link with things in order to manage their use. In contrast to
this, economic values express the importance people place
on things, more precisely, they are a quantitative expression
of the impact a service has on the overall economic
wellbeing of people. Each time we make a decision affecting
natural or semi-natural habitats there is an (implicit and
possibly explicit) valuation of the consequences of this
choice, involving trade-offs with other land-use decisions.
Therefore, humans are, in many circumstances, implicitly
valuing ecosystems through the decisions they make.
Economic valuation is a process in which these values
are made explicit by using well-informed methodologies
and justified criteria. The neoclassical economic theory
of value can be regarded as a theory of what should be
a perfect price system in order to transmit to economic
agents the most relevant information on the relative utility
211
4. ECONOMIC VALUATION OF POLLINATOR GAINS
AND LOSSES
FIGURE 4.1
Total economic value of pollinators and pollination service (adapted from Pascual et al. 2010).
Total economic
value
Use value
Non-use value
Direct use
Indirect use
Option and
insurance value
Bequest value
Existence value
Consumptive
Non consumptive
Honey and crop
production
Recreation, spiritual,
aesthetic value from
pollinators or pollinated
plants
Crop species diversity
and perennity
Wild flora and fauna
production
Value given to preserve
a choice option of
using pollinators and
pollination service in
the future
The use of pollination
service for future
generations
The existence of
pollinator populations
and pollinated plants