Rudolf .S. de Groot; Luke Brander; Sander van der Ploeg; Florence Bernard; Leon Braat;
Mike Christie; Robert Costanza; Neville Crossman; Andrea Ghermandi; Lars Hein (2012). Global estimates of the value of ecosystems and their services in monetary units. Ecosystem Services. In Press
The paper discusses the Ecosystem Service Value Database (ESVD) that was used in the TEEB study. Note that we plan to build up the ESVD database in the future, so that we attain a much more comprehensive suite of value evidence on the value of ecosystem services across different biomes. In turn, this will allow more robust use of value transfers in the future. For more info on ESVD, see http://www.fsd.nl/esp/79128/5/0/50 .
Below is the abstract from the paper...
This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the value of ecosystem services provided by 10 main biomes based on data from local case studies worldwide, expressed in monetary units. In total, over 320 publications were screened covering over 300 case study locations. Approximately 1350 value estimates were coded and stored in a searchable Ecosystem Service Value Database (ESVD). A selection of 665 value estimates were used for the analysis of the methods, locations, ecosystem services, and ranges of values presented in this paper.
Acknowledging the uncertainties and contextual nature of any valuation, the analysis shows that the total Value Estimated in Monetary units (VEM) of ecosystem services is considerable and ranges between 490 int$/year for the total bundle of ecosystem services that can be provided by an ‘average’ hectare of open oceans to almost 350,000 int$/year for the potential services of an ‘average’ hectare of coral reefs.
More importantly, our results show that most of this value is outside the market and best considered as non-tradable public benefits. The continued over-exploitation of ecosystems thus comes at the expense of the livelihood of the poor, and future generations. Given that many of the positive externalities of ecosystems are lost or strongly reduced after land use conversion better accounting for the public goods and services provided by ecosystems is crucial to improved decision making and better management, and new institutions are required for better management.
This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the value of ecosystem services provided by 10 main biomes based on data from local case studies worldwide, expressed in monetary units. In total, over 320 publications were screened covering over 300 case study locations. Approximately 1350 value estimates were coded and stored in a searchable Ecosystem Service Value Database (ESVD). A selection of 665 value estimates were used for the analysis of the methods, locations, ecosystem services, and ranges of values presented in this paper.
Acknowledging the uncertainties and contextual nature of any valuation, the analysis shows that the total Value Estimated in Monetary units (VEM) of ecosystem services is considerable and ranges between 490 int$/year for the total bundle of ecosystem services that can be provided by an ‘average’ hectare of open oceans to almost 350,000 int$/year for the potential services of an ‘average’ hectare of coral reefs.
More importantly, our results show that most of this value is outside the market and best considered as non-tradable public benefits. The continued over-exploitation of ecosystems thus comes at the expense of the livelihood of the poor, and future generations. Given that many of the positive externalities of ecosystems are lost or strongly reduced after land use conversion better accounting for the public goods and services provided by ecosystems is crucial to improved decision making and better management, and new institutions are required for better management.
