scholarly journals Ecosystem Services – Examples of Their Valuation Methods in Czech Republic and Slovakia

Author(s):  
Zuzana Sarvašová ◽  
Miroslav Kovalčík ◽  
Zuzana Dobšinská ◽  
Jaroslav Šálka ◽  
Vilém Jarský

AbstractThis literature review deals with the understanding of ecosystem services related to the question of their applicability and appropriate methods for their valuation. We distinguish between ecological valuation methods that aim to assess the significance of landscape characteristics, conventional economic, i.e. monetary valuation and non-monetizing valuation or assessment. Ecological evaluation methods derive values by following a cost of production approach which neglects consumer preferences. Economic valuation methods focus on the exchange value of ecosystem services, i.e. they are based on consumer preferences, but do not adequately take into account the complex internal structure of ecosystems. We conclude that – from the view of implementation of ecosystem services for policy support and consulting – successful valuation approaches should particularly consider the relationships between economic, ecological and social aspects of ecosystem services’ provision.

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8749
Author(s):  
Bartosz Bartkowski ◽  
Stephan Bartke ◽  
Katharina Helming ◽  
Carsten Paul ◽  
Anja-Kristina Techen ◽  
...  

The concept of ecosystem services, especially in combination with economic valuation, can illuminate trade-offs involved in soil management, policy and governance, and thus support decision making. In this paper, we investigate and highlight the potential and limitations of the economic valuation of soil-based ecosystem services to inform sustainable soil management and policy. We formulate a definition of soil-based ecosystem services as basis for conducting a review of existing soil valuation studies with a focus on the inclusion of ecosystem services and the choice of valuation methods. We find that, so far, the economic valuation of soil-based ecosystem services has covered only a small number of such services and most studies have employed cost-based methods rather than state-of-the-art preference-based valuation methods, even though the latter would better acknowledge the public good character of soil related services. Therefore, the relevance of existing valuation studies for political processes is low. Broadening the spectrum of analyzed ecosystem services as well as using preference-based methods would likely increase the informational quality and policy relevance of valuation results. We point out options for improvement based on recent advances in economic valuation theory and practice. We conclude by investigating the specific roles economic valuation results can play in different phases of the policy-making process, and the specific requirements for its usefulness in this context.


2020 ◽  
Vol 183 ◽  
pp. 01002
Author(s):  
Aya Jamouli ◽  
Khali Allali

Ecosystems provide vital services that improve and support livelihoods and human well-being. Consequently, scientific research on ecosystem services (ES) has increased, over the past two decades globally, as well as in Africa. This study provides an overview of existing economic ES valuation methods in Africa using the Web of Science databases. The results highlighted that South Africa recorded the high number of ES valuation publications. The most evaluated ES category was provisioning then regulating services. In terms of economic valuation methods, the market price was the most popular, followed by the contingent valuation and the choice experiment methods. Recommendations are provided for future research in this filed.


2015 ◽  
pp. 108-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark J. Koetse ◽  
Roy Brouwer ◽  
Pieter J. H. van Beukering

2006 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad R. Murray ◽  
Grant C. Hose ◽  
Derek Eamus ◽  
Damian Licari

Groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) are ecosystems that must have access to groundwater to maintain their ecological structure and function. Rapidly expanding numbers of humans are placing increased demands on groundwater for consumption, industry and agriculture. These demands alter groundwater regimes of GDEs that have evolved over millennia, resulting in the degradation of ecosystem health. As a consequence, the goods and services (ecosystem services) that GDEs provide for humans, which include food production and water purification, are at serious risk of being lost. Effective management of GDEs and their ecosystem services requires prioritisation of the most valuable ecosystems, given that increasing human demands and limited time and money preclude complete protection of all GDEs. Here, we provide an eight-step method for the valuation and initial prioritisation of GDEs. The proposed methodology improves on previous, primarily subjective methods for the valuation of GDEs by employing both economic valuation of the ecosystem services provided by GDEs, and ecological valuation of significant environmental attributes of GDEs. We apply the eight-step method to a hypothetical case study in order to demonstrate its applicability to a catchment containing a range of GDEs of different sizes, each possessing its own suite of threatened taxa. The major benefit of the valuation methodology presented here is that it can be used at three levels of complexity: (1) a full-desktop study, (2) a semi-desktop study requiring stakeholder consultation, and (3) a full field-based study, according to the time and money available for initial prioritisation efforts.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4598
Author(s):  
Yuan-Yuan Wang ◽  
Yuan-Ying Chi ◽  
Jin-Hua Xu ◽  
Jia-Lin Li

The construction of charging infrastructure has a positive effect on promoting the diffusion of new energy vehicles (NEVs). This study uses natural language processing (NLP) technology to explore consumer preferences for charging infrastructure from consumer comments posted on public social media. The findings show that consumers in first-tier cities pay more attention to charging infrastructure, and the number of comments accounted for 36% of the total. In all comments, consumers are most concerned about charging issues, national policy support, driving range, and installation of private charging piles. Among the charging modes of charging piles, direct current (DC) fast charging is more popular with consumers. The inability to find public charging piles in time to replenish power during travel or high energy consumption caused by air conditioning is the main reason for consumers’ range anxiety. Increasing battery performance, improving charging convenience, and construction of battery swap station are the main ways consumers prefer to increase driving range. Consumers’ preference for charging at home is the main reason for their high attention to the installation of private charging piles. However, the lack of fixed parking spaces and community properties have become the main obstacles to the installation of private charging piles. In addition, consumers in cities with different development levels pay different amounts of attention to each topic of charging infrastructure. Consumers in second-tier and above cities are most concerned about charging issues. Consumers in third-tier and above cities pay significantly more attention to the installation of private charging piles than consumers in fourth-tier and fifth-tier cities. Consumers in each city have almost the same amount of attention to driving range.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 703
Author(s):  
Astrid Vannoppen ◽  
Jeroen Degerickx ◽  
Anne Gobin

Attractive landscapes are diverse and resilient landscapes that provide a multitude of essential ecosystem services. The development of landscape policy to protect and improve landscape attractiveness, thereby ensuring the provision of ecosystem services, is ideally adapted to region specific landscape characteristics. In addition, trends in landscape attractiveness may be linked to certain policies, or the absence of policies over time. A spatial and temporal evaluation of landscape attractiveness is thus desirable for landscape policy development. In this paper, landscape attractiveness was spatially evaluated for Flanders (Belgium) using landscape indicators derived from geospatial data as a case study. Large local differences in landscape quality in (i) rural versus urban areas and (ii) between the seven agricultural regions in Flanders were found. This observed spatial variability in landscape attractiveness demonstrated that a localized approach, considering the geophysical characteristics of each individual region, would be required in the development of landscape policy to improve landscape quality in Flanders. Some trends in landscape attractiveness were related to agriculture in Flanders, e.g., a slight decrease in total agricultural area, decrease in dominance of grassland, maize and cereals, a decrease in crop diversity, sharp increase in the adoption of agri-environmental agreements (AEA) and a decrease in bare soil conditions in winter. The observed trends and spatial variation in landscape attractiveness can be used as a tool to support policy analysis, assess the potential effects of future policy plans, identify policy gaps and evaluate past landscape policy.


2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 613-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Gómez-Baggethun ◽  
Manuel Ruiz-Pérez

In the last decade a growing number of environmental scientists have advocated economic valuation of ecosystem services as a pragmatic short-term strategy to communicate the value of biodiversity in a language that reflects dominant political and economic views. This paper revisits the controversy on economic valuation of ecosystem services in the light of two aspects that are often neglected in ongoing debates. First, the role of the particular institutional setup in which environmental policy and governance is currently embedded in shaping valuation outcomes. Second, the broader economic and sociopolitical processes that have governed the expansion of pricing into previously non-marketed areas of the environment. Our analysis suggests that within the institutional setup and broader sociopolitical processes that have become prominent since the late 1980s economic valuation is likely to pave the way for the commodification of ecosystem services with potentially counterproductive effects in the long term for biodiversity conservation and equity of access to ecosystem services benefits.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document