Protected areas (PAs) contain biodiversity and ecosystems of high conservation value. In addition, these areas provide a range of benefits, both direct and indirect, to our societies and economies, i.e. so called ecosystem services. These services include, for example, an ecosystem's ability to regulate floods and climate, purify water, secure the pollination of crops, and create opportunities for recreation, culture and tourism.
Social and Economic Benefits of Protected Areas offers a comprehensive introduction to the socio-economic benefits of PAs and PA networks and provides step-by-step practical guidance on identifying, assessing and valuing the various ecosystem services and related benefits provided by PAs. It also aims to improve the communication of PA benefits to different stakeholders and the general public. It is shown that identifying and valuing the socio-economic benefits of PAs can be beneficial for several reasons. Demonstrating socio-economic importance of a protected site can significantly increase political and stakeholder support for the site and resolve conflicts between different interest groups. This can lead to positive changes in policies and decision-making. Insights on PA benefits are also needed to identify a combination of actions and land use practices that best support the sustainable and equitable utilisation of these benefits, while retaining a site's conservation goals. Finally, demonstrating different benefits can help to discover alternative and sustainable sources for financing the management of PAs.
Foreword
Braulio F. de Souza Dias and Ernesto Enkerlin-Hoeflich
Introduction
1. Introduction, Objectives and Approach
Marianne Kettunen and Patrick ten Brink
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Objectives, scope and audience
1.3 Guiding principles
1.4 Approach, data, structure and application
Part 1: Contextual Guidance
2. Protected Areas: Their Values and Benefits
Nigel Dudley, Sue Stolton and Marianne Kettunen
2.1 Different benefits and values of protected areas
2.2 Basis of benefits: structure, functioning and processes in protected areas
2.3 Ecosystem services and related goods provided and supported by protected areas
2.4 Broader benefits
2.5 Putting the benefits into perspective
2.6 Opportunities and risks of assessing benefits
3. General Principles for Estimating the Socio-economic Value of Benefits Provided by Protected Areas
Marianne Kettunen, Patrick ten Brink and Samuela Bassi
3.2 Estimating the socio-economic value of benefits
3.3 Estimating the costs of protected areas
3.5 Estimating the total (net) benefits of a protected area
3.4 Estimating the added value of protected area designation
3.6 Estimating benefits from multiple sites
Part 2: Practical Guidance
Step I. A Scoping Assessment of Possible Benefits
4. Scoping Assessment of Benefits Provided by Protected Areas
Marianne Kettunen and Patrick ten Brink
4.1 How to carry out a scoping assessment?
4.2 Identification and rapid assessment of benefits
4.3 Joint consideration of different benefits
4.4 Considerations of benefits the context of multiple protected areas
4.5 Identification of net benefits
Annex 1. Scoping Assessments of Benefits Provided by Protected Areas – an Example of Application
Dalia D’Amato, Marianne Kettunen, Azucena de la Cruz, José Benedicto Royuela and Artur Gil
5. Deciding which Benefits to Analyse in More Detail
Marianne Kettunen and Patrick ten Brink
5.1 Identifying the most important benefits
5.2 Identifying the purpose of socio-economic valuation
5.3 Possible resources to support detailed socio-economic assessment
Step II. Detailed Methodological Guidance to Estimating Benefits
6. Provisioning Services and Related Goods
Marianne Kettunen and Dalia D’Amato
6.1 Overview of benefits
6.2 Socio-economic importance of benefits
6.3 Estimating the value of benefits
Annex 2. Step by Step Guidance: Valuation of Biodiversity Resources
Marianne Kettunen and Dalia D’Amato
7. Regulating Services and Related Goods
Tomas Badura and Marianne Kettunen
7.1 Overview of benefits
7.2 Socio-economic importance of benefits
7.3 Role of different stakeholders in maintaining and using benefits
7.4 Estimating the value of benefits
Annex 3. Step by Step Guidance: Water Related Ecosystem Services
Tomas Badura and Marianne Kettunen
Annex 4. Step by Step Guidance: Climate Change Mitigation (Carbon Storage and Sequestration)
Samuela Bassi and Patrick ten Brink
8. Cultural Services and Related Goods
Sonja Gantioler and Dalia D’Amato
8.1 Overview of benefits
8.2 Socio-economic importance of benefits
8.3 Estimating the value of benefits
Annex 5. Step by Step Guidance: Tourism, Recreation and Other Cultural Benefits
Sonja Gantioler and Dalia D’Amato
9. Appreciating the Value of Supporting Service
Dalia D’Amato and Marianne Kettunen
9.1 Overview of benefits
9.2 Socio-economic importance of benefits
9.3 Estimating the value of benefits
10. Wider Socio-economic Benefits
Sonja Gantioler and Patrick ten Brink
10.1 Overview of benefits
10.2 Socio-economic importance of benefits
10.3 Estimating the value of benefits
11. Costs Related to Protected Areas
Samuela Bassi and Dalia D’Amato
11.1 Costs of management
11.2 Opportunity costs
11.3 Other costs
11.4 Total costs of protected areas
12. Assessing Net Benefits: Site Level
Patrick ten Brink and Marianne Kettunen
12.1 Assessing aggregated benefits
12.2 Comparing benefits with costs
12.3 Considering the added value of PA designation and management
Annex 6. Calculating Net Present Values (NPVs) and the Effect of Different Discount Rates
Patrick ten Brink
13. Assessing Net Benefits: Multiple Sites
Patrick ten Brink and Marianne Kettunen
13.1 Issues to reflect when aggregating values for multiple sites
13.2 Assessing aggregated benefits of multiple sites by scaling up
13.3 Estimating the future benefits of multiple sites
13.4 Comparing costs and benefits at an aggregate scale
Step III: Interpreting, Using and Communicating The Estimates
14. Interpreting the Results of Socio-economic Assessments
Patrick ten Brink and Marianne Kettunen
14.1 General meaning of the results
14.2 ‘Reading’ socio-economic assessments
14.3 Robustness of estimates
14.4 Level of confidence
14.5 Wider reflection on the utility of the results
15. Using and Communicating the Results
Sections 15.1-15.3 by Sue Stolton and Nigel Dudley
Section 15.4-15.5 by Marianne Kettunen, and Dalia D’Amato
15.1 Understanding, awareness and advocacy
15.2 Support to decision-making and management
15.3 Identifying and addressing social impacts
15.4 Mobilizing funds
15.5 Considering synergies and conflicts with biodiversity conservation
Conclusions
16. Conclusions and Way Forward
Marianne Kettunen and Patrick ten Brink
16.1 Towards a full appreciation and uptake of benefits provided by protected areas
16.2 An integrated future vision for protected areas: benefits for biodiversity and people
Index
Marianne Kettunen is senior policy analyst at the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) and Guest Researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute, Helsinki, Finland.
Patrick ten Brink is Senior Fellow and Head of Office at the Institute for European Environmental Policy in Brussels, Belgium. He is also the co-ordinator of TEEB for policy-makers within "The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity" project, administered by the United Nations Environment Programme.
"This book is [therefore] extremely welcome, coming at the moment when interest in assessment is higher than at any time before. The team of authors, led by Marianne Kettunen and Patrick ten Brink from the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), has assembled an impressive global evidence base and practical advice, drawing on years of experience. We urge everyone involved in protected areas conservation to benefit from its guidance and help to promote protected areas as natural solutions to many of the world's sustainability challenges."
– From the Foreword by Braulio F. de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Ernesto Enkerlin-Hoeflich, Chair of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
"This book presents a timely and practical guide to assessing and communicating the multiple values of protected areas, whether inland or coastal wetlands, drylands, grasslands, forests or marine areas in the open oceans. Essential reading for all wishing to ensure that nature is more fully taken into account in decision making, including all those responsible for managing and maintaining the health of the over 2000 Ramsar Sites worldwide."
– Professor Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, Ramsar Convention Secretariat
"This guidebook is incredibly comprehensive and useful for all practitioners attempting to present socio-economic values of PAs. It will undoubtedly lead to a whole host of new and strong PA valuation studies important for advancing the conservation agenda."
– Andrew Bovarnick, Lead Natural Resource Economist, UNDP
"The Guide provides a very welcome contribution to filling the gap that currently exists in the availability of practical tools and approaches for documenting, analysing and communicating the social and economic benefits of Protected Areas. Economists, conservation planners and policy-makers will all gain from the insights and techniques that are presented. The book is a core resource which will undoubtedly prove useful in strengthening protected area planning and management."
– Lucy Emerton, Director of Economics & Finance, Environment Management Group
"A timely, practical and inspiring guidebook that helps us to value the multiple benefits of protected areas and to communicate them better to local people and decision-makers. A must-read for all protected area managers!"
– Sanna-Kaisa Juvonen, Senior Advisor for International Affairs, Metsähallitus Natural Heritage Services, Finland
"This book is an excellent, practice-oriented overview of current methodological approaches and challenges to assess the ecosystem services provided by protected areas. It gives clear indication and guidance how to better understand the potentials and shortcomings of assessing and valuing nature and how these values can be taken up by and communicated to the decision making processes."
– Alberto Arroyo Schnell, Senior Policy Advisor on Biodiversity, Andreas Baumüller, Head of Natural Resources and Land Use and Peter Torkler, EU Policy, WWF