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"Beukering, Pieter van"
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Time equals money? Valuing ecosystem-based adaptation in a developing country context
To guide investments in ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) in developing countries, numerous stated preference valuation studies have been implemented to assess the value of ecosystem services. These studies increasingly use time payments as an alternative to money. There is limited knowledge, however, about how to convert time to money and how the type of payment affects willingness to pay (WTP). In this study, the results of choice experiments using time and money payments are compared in the context of EbA measures in Vietnam. Six, of which five individual-specific, conversion rates are applied. WTP estimates are found to be higher for time payments. Moreover, the type of payment vehicle as well as the conversion rate has substantial effect on mean WTP and WTP distributions. We discuss implications of these results for the conversion of time to money and the use of resulting WTP estimates in cost benefit analyses in developing countries.
Journal Article
Linking ecosystem services and the Sustainable Development Goals in Small Island Developing States: the case of Aruba
The economy and well-being in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and other Subnational Island Jurisdictions (SNIJ) highly rely on marine and coastal ecosystem services (ESS). Moreover, SIDS and SNIJ share common challenges in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Building a fact-based solution to demonstrate the link between ESS and SDGs is essential for nature conservation and sustainable development in SIDS and SNIJ. In this study, we developed a 5-step approach to capture the contribution of ESS to the achievement of SDGs in Aruba by means of a shortlist of indicators, with the aim to provide information for optimal policy investments to implement the Aruba 2030 roadmap. The results numerically and spatially demonstrate the contribution of fisheries, nature-based tourism and local cultural recreational ESS to achieve SDG targets 14.7 (increase SIDS' economic benefits from sustainable use of marine resources), 8.9 (devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism) and 3.4 (promote mental health and well-being); and how investing in these key ESS could lead to multiplying co-benefits for other SDGs. This paper also discusses how the 5-step approach and the outcomes can be used to assist other SIDS and SNIJ in their ambitions to meet the SDGs.
Journal Article
Mapping the economic loss of ecosystem services caused by the invasive plant species Antigonon leptopus on the Dutch Caribbean Island of St. Eustatius
Invasive species are a worldwide threat to biodiversity, especially on Caribbean islands. Through their impact on the structure and functioning of ecosystems, they also affect ecosystem services. Therefore, invasive species can have profound socio-economic effects. On the Dutch Caribbean Island of St. Eustatius, the invasive perennial vine Coralita is present on roughly 33% of the Island. While ecological damage is evident, effective management strategies are still lacking. This study links the ecological, cultural and societal effects of the invasion to the economy of the Island by estimating the ecosystem service losses due to Coralita in monetary value. We have spatially assessed the economic value of five main ecosystem services (tourism, non-use value, carbon sequestration, archaeology and local cultural and recreational value) to the different habitats on the Island and estimated the loss of these values under three scenarios of Coralita cover: 0%, 3% and 36% dominant cover. The baseline scenario of 0% demonstrated a total ecosystem service value of $2.7 million per year, concentrated on the Quill volcano. The 3% and 36% scenario showed a yearly loss of $39,804 and $576,704, respectively, with the largest losses located on the northern and eastern slopes of the Quill. These areas should be prioritised for management and the known potential gain per area enables choice of strategy, based on cost-benefit considerations. To reduce further economic loss by Coralita, we urgently advise an immediate management strategy and ongoing research into eradication and restoration methods.
Journal Article
Measuring the impacts of community-based grasslands management in Mongolia's Gobi
We assessed a donor-funded grassland management project designed to create both conservation and livelihood benefits in the rangelands of Mongolia's Gobi desert. The project ran from 1995 to 2006, and we used remote sensing Normalized Differential Vegetation Index data from 1982 to 2009 to compare project grazing sites to matched control sites before and after the project's implementation. We found that the productivity of project grazing sites was on average within 1% of control sites for the 20 years before the project but generated 11% more biomass on average than the control areas from 2000 to 2009. To better understand the benefits of the improved grasslands to local people, we conducted 280 household interviews, 8 focus group discussions, and 31 key informant interviews across 6 districts. We found a 12% greater median annual income as well as a range of other socioeconomic benefits for project households compared to control households in the same areas. Overall, the project generated measurable benefits to both nature and people. The key factors underlying project achievements that may be replicable by other conservation projects include the community-driven approach of the project, knowledge exchanges within and between communities inside and outside the country, a project-supported local community organizer in each district, and strong community leadership.
Journal Article
Estimating Benefits of Nature-based Solutions: Diverging Values From Choice Experiments With Time or Money Payments
Nature-based solutions (NBS) provide a promising means to a climate resilient future. To guide investments in NBS, stated preference studies have become a common tool to evaluate the benefits of NBS in developing countries. Due to subsistence lifestyles and generally lower incomes, SP studies in developing countries increasingly use time payments as an alternative to the traditionally implemented money payments. It remains unclear, however, how time values should be converted into money values, how the payment affects willingness to pay (WTP) estimates, and how this influence varies across settings with different levels of market integration. We compare the results of choice experiments that use either time or money payments and that are implemented in urban and rural Ghana. The choice experiments target to value different NBS aimed at erosion prevention and other ecosystem service benefits along the highly erosion prone Ghanaian coastline. Time payments are converted into monetary units using two generic wage-based conversion rates and one novel individual-specific non-wage-based conversion rate. We find higher WTP estimates for the time payments. Moreover, we find that the underlying implicit assumptions related to the currently commonly applied generic wage-based conversion rates do not hold. Finally, we find higher levels of market integration and smaller WTP disparities in the urban site, providing evidence that market integration allows for convergence of WTP estimates. These results provide guidance on the accurate estimation of NBS benefits through the implementation of stated preference studies with time payments.
Journal Article
A new approach to explain farmers’ adoption of climate change mitigation measures
The determinants of farmers’ decisions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are currently not well understood. This study takes several new angles in investigating farmers’ climate change mitigation behaviour. Based on two identical surveys among representative samples of Dutch farmers, this study examines the underlying determinants and motivating factors for three different types of climate change mitigation measures on farms: energy saving, the production of renewable energy and reduction of emissions of methane and nitrous oxide (non-CO
2
emissions). Furthermore, the study explores whether farmers’ awareness and behaviour has been influenced by a communication campaign carried out by the government of the Netherlands between 2012 and 2015. Four major conclusions emerge. Firstly, the analyses demonstrate that accounting for the cost-effectiveness and technology readiness level (TRL) of different types of climate change mitigation measures provides for a better understanding of the factors that motivate farmers to adopt these measures. Secondly, neither the willingness to take GHG reduction measures nor knowledge on GHG emissions are consistent motivating factors for energy-related measures. Thirdly, it seems that external factors, such as economic hardship, dominate the overall environmental awareness of farmers. Fourthly, the farmer’s propensity to innovate proved to be the strongest and most consistent predictor of both the willingness and the actual adoption of climate change mitigation technologies. Therefore, focusing on making farmers more open to change and general innovation in campaigns in the agricultural sector might be more effective than campaigns focusing specifically on climate change mitigation.
Journal Article
Geographical scoping and willingness-to-pay for nature protection
This study offers a Choice Experiment (CE) analysis of geographical scope effects. About 500 stated preference surveys were conducted to estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) for nature protection in the Netherlands and the Caribbean Netherlands which became part of the Netherlands’ constitution just before the survey, providing a unique policy setting. Two version of the CE were implemented with a narrow or a broader geographical scope. Estimation of error correction mixed logit models resulted in the following main insights. First, the hypothesis of scope invariance is rejected since expanding the geographical scope influenced WTP values for nature protection. As an illustration, policies of preventing a degradation of nature have an average WTP of about €20 in the experiment with the smaller geographical scope, while this WTP is not significantly different from zero in the experiment with the more extensive scope. Second, evidence of scope sensitivity of WTP to the levels of nature protection is mixed, and depends on the geographical scope of the CE. We find a sizable WTP for protection of nature in Caribbean Netherlands among citizens of the mainland of the Netherlands, which supports the observed sizable funding of the Dutch government for nature management in the Caribbean Netherlands.
Journal Article
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ON CORAL REEFS
Because ocean acidification has only recently been recognized as a problem caused by CO2 emissions, impact studies are still rare and estimates of the economic impact are absent. This paper estimates the economic impact of ocean acidification on coral reefs which are generally considered to be economically as well as ecologically important ecosystems. First, we conduct an impact assessment in which atmospheric concentration of CO2 is linked to ocean acidity causing coral reef area loss. Next, a meta-analytic value transfer is applied to determine the economic value of coral reefs around the world. Finally, these two analyses are combined to estimate the economic impact of ocean acidification on coral reefs for the four IPCC marker scenarios. We find that the annual economic impact rapidly escalates over time, because the scenarios have rapid economic growth in the relevant countries and coral reefs are a luxury good. Nonetheless, the annual value in 2100 in still only a fraction of total income, one order of magnitude smaller than the previously estimated impact of climate change. Although the estimated impact is uncertain, the estimated confidence interval spans one order of magnitude only. Future research should seek to extend the estimates presented here to other impacts of ocean acidification and investigate the implications of our findings for climate policy.
Journal Article
Economic Valuation of the Coral Reefs of Hawai'i
Hawai`i's coral reef ecosystems provide many goods and services to coastal populations, such as fisheries and tourism. They also form a unique natural ecosystem, with an important biodiversity value as well as scientific and educational value. Also, coral reefs form a natural protection against wave erosion. Without even attempting to measure their intrinsic value, this paper shows that coral reefs, if properly managed, contribute enormously to the welfare of Hawai`i through a variety of quantifiable benefits. Net benefits are estimated at $360 million a year for Hawai`i's economy, and the overall asset value of the state of Hawai`i's 1660 km super(2) (410,000 acres) of potential reef area in the main Hawaiian Islands is estimated at nearly $10 billion.
Journal Article