An ecological economics approach to the management of a multi-purpose coastal wetland (original) (raw)
Related papers
Ecological-economic analysis of wetlands: scientific integration for management and policy
Ecological Economics, 2000
Wetlands all over the world have been lost or are threatened in spite of various international agreements and national policies. This is caused by: (1) the public nature of many wetlands products and services; (2) user externalities imposed on other stakeholders; and (3) policy intervention failures that are due to a lack of consistency among government policies in different areas (economics, environment, nature protection, physical planning, etc.). All three causes are related to information failures which in turn can be linked to the complexity and 'invisibility' of spatial relationships among groundwater, surface water and wetland vegetation. Integrated wetland research combining social and natural sciences can help in part to solve the information failure to achieve the required consistency across various government policies. An integrated wetland research framework suggests that a combination of economic valuation, integrated modelling, stakeholder analysis, and multi-criteria evaluation can provide complementary insights into sustainable and welfare-optimising wetland management and policy. Subsequently, each of the various : S 0 9 2 1 -8 0 0 9 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 1 6 4 -6 R. K. Turner et al. / Ecological Economics 35 (2000) 7-23 8 components of such integrated wetland research is reviewed and related to wetland management policy.
Ecological-economic Analysis of Wetlands: Science and Social Science Integration
1998
The present paper and a more policy oriented twin paper were started in the context of the Global Wetlands Economics Network (GWEN). This network aims to promote multidisciplinary and international communication and collaboration between natural and social scientists that are involved in research on wetlands processes and management. It will contribute to the exchange of information and ideas about research methods and practical application of ecosystem valuation techniques, systems analysis tools and evaluation methods with particular reference to wetlands management. It is also meant to encompass both basic social science research work and user group oriented policy analysis. The network has had four meetings between February 1995 and November 1997 (in the UK, The Netherlands, Italy and Sweden).
Ecological-economic analysis of wetlands
Tinbergen Institute …, 1998
The present paper and a more policy oriented twin paper were started in the context of the Global Wetlands Economics Network (GWEN). This network aims to promote multidisciplinary and international communication and collaboration between natural and social scientists that are involved in research on wetlands processes and management. It will contribute to the exchange of information and ideas about research methods and practical application of ecosystem valuation techniques, systems analysis tools and evaluation methods with particular reference to wetlands management. It is also meant to encompass both basic social science research work and user group oriented policy analysis. The network has had four meetings between February 1995 and November 1997 (in the UK, The Netherlands, Italy and Sweden).
2000
Wetlands all over the world have been lost or are threatened in spite of various international agreements and national policies. This is caused by: (1) the public nature of many wetlands products and services; (2) user externalities imposed on other stakeholders; and (3) policy intervention failures that are due to a lack of consistency among government policies in different areas (economics, environment, nature protection, physical planning, etc.). All three causes are related to information failures which in turn can be linked to the complexity and 'invisibility' of spatial relationships among groundwater, surface water and wetland vegetation. Integrated wetland research combining social and natural sciences can help in part to solve the information failure to achieve the required consistency across various government policies. An integrated wetland research framework suggests that a combination of economic valuation, integrated modelling, stakeholder analysis, and multi-criteria evaluation can provide complementary insights into sustainable and welfare-optimising wetland management and policy. Subsequently, each of the various
The Total Economic Value of the wetlands in a European Region
International Conference on "Multi Functions of Wetland Systems", 2007
The Contingent Valuation Method was used to elicit willingness to pay an annual tax to preserve the Region of Veneto (Italy) wetlands. The Total Economic Value of the regional wetlands was evaluated by means of a survey. The respondents were representative of the regional population in terms of spatial proximity to wetlands, socio-cultural membership, rural/urban distribution, and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. The mean value obtained was 62.12 €/year/family. The analysis of the social awareness of the multiple wetland functions was performed using a multivariate logit model, which suggested a clear perception of some functions (recreation and habitat), and a weak perception of other "environmental based" functions (water depuration, flood protection, etc.). The Total Economic Value was statistically explained by several expected variables for this kind of estimation (income level, study level, membership of interest groups), but not by the variables related to the awareness of the wetlands environmental functions (water reservoir, flood control, yields production, barrier against weather events, depuration). Given the growing role of wetlands in water resource management, a stronger public information-training effort on the multiple wetlands goods and services seems urgent.
Ecological Goals and Wetland Preservation Choice
Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics-revue Canadienne D Agroeconomie, 2010
Canada's multilayered wetland policies promote the preservation of “significant” wetlands, but the criteria for identifying these wetlands are not clearly defined partially because wetlands are a source of multiple ecological outputs, such as abating sediment and providing wildlife habitat. This study adapts a GIS-based, hydrologic, and economic model to examine the trade-offs between agricultural interests and ecological benefits in the Eramosa Watershed, located in southwestern Ontario, Canada. While preserving a wetland enhances both water quality and wildlife habitat goals, and the costs of preservation increase at an increasing rate as expected, the ranking of wetlands, and so the choice of “significant” wetlands, varies considerably depending upon the wetland benefit chosen as the policy goal. The trade-off between wetland benefits and drainage is diminished if there is an alternative means to abate sediment. Since conservation tillage is a lower cost means of improving water quality than wetland preservation, its inclusion can achieve comparable environmental benefits at decreased agricultural cost.La politique canadienne multicouche sur les zones humides préconise la préservation des zones humides «d'importance», mais les critères d'identification de ces zones ne sont pas clairement définis, en partie parce que les zones humides offrent une foule d'avantages écologiques tels que la réduction des sédiments et la constitution d'habitats fauniques. Dans la présente étude, nous avons adapté un modèle économique et hydrologique fondé sur un système d'information géographique (SIG) pour analyser les compromis entre les intérêts agricoles et les avantages écologiques dans le bassin hydrographique de la rivière Eramosa, situé dans le sud-ouest de la province d'Ontario, au Canada. Bien que la préservation des zones humides améliore la qualité de l'eau et les habitats fauniques, et que les coûts liés à la préservation ne cessent d'augmenter, le classement des zones humides et, par conséquent, le choix des zones humides «d'importance» varient considérablement en fonction de l'avantage retenu comme objectif politique. Le compromis entre les avantages des zones humides et le drainage est diminué s'il existe une solution de rechange pour réduire les sédiments. Étant donné que, pour améliorer la qualité de l'eau, le travail de conservation du sol est un moyen plus économique que la préservation des zones humides, il peut permettre d'obtenir des avantages environnementaux comparables à des coûts agricoles moins élevés.
Towards an integrated environmental assessment for wetland and catchment management
The Geographical Journal, 2003
This paper develops a decision support system for evaluation of wetland ecosystem management strategy and examines its, so far partial, application in a case study of an important complex coastal wetland known as the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, in the east of England, UK. Most managed ecosystems are complex and often poorly understood hierarchically organized systems. Capturing the range of relevant impacts on natural and human systems under different management options will be a formidable challenge. Biodiversity has a hierarchical structure which ranges from the ecosystem and landscape level, through the community level and down to the population and genetic level. There is a need to develop methodologies for the practicable detection of ecosystem change, as well as the evaluation of different ecological functions. What is also required is a set of indicators (environmental, social and economic) which facilitate the detection of change in ecosystems suffering stress and shock and highlight possible drivers of the change process. A hierarchical classification of ecological indicators of sustainability would need to take into account existing interactions between different organization levels, from species to ecosystems. Effects of environmental stress are expressed in different ways at different levels of biological organization and effects at one level can be expected to impact other levels, often in unpredictable ways. The management strategy, evaluation methodologies and indicators adopted should also assess on sustainability grounds whether any given management option is supporting, or reducing, the diversity of functions which are providing stakeholders with the welfare benefits they require.