Economic evaluation of vessel traffic service (VTS): A contingent valuation study

Maritime safety has become a major concern in Korea. As an alternative to improve maritime safety, the Korean government is considering enhancing infrastructure associated with maritime safety, in the form of a vessel traffic service (VTS) facility for high density waterways. This study estimates the public value of a VTS facility construction project using the contingent valuation (CV) method. A CV survey using person-to-person interviews was administered to 400 randomly selected households to elicit their willingness to pay (WTP) for the project. Overall, the respondents accepted the contingent market, and on average, Korean households were willing to pay a significant amount toward the project. The mean WTP for the project is estimated to be approximately KRW 4149.5 (USD 3.7) per year per household, which is statistically significant. The estimate of the fiduciary benefit to Korean households is approximately KRW 11.07 billion (USD 9.91 million) per year for five years. The results are expected to be useful for policy-makers in determining the economic feasibility of a VTS.     

Economic benefit of the protection program for the Steller sea lion

This paper examines willingness to pay (WTP) for an endangered species across geographically nested samples using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). The three samples range from (1) the boroughs that contain critical habitat for the Steller sea lion to (2) the state that contains these boroughs to and (3) the entire United States. Depending on the assumptions of the model, WTP varies tremendously from sample to sample. WTP for the United States is the highest and it is the lowest for the boroughs. The null hypotheses that mean WTP estimates are greater then zero were rejected for the boroughs and the state but were not rejected for the United States based on the 95% confidence intervals.     

Mapping the global value and distribution of coral reef tourism

Global coral reef related tourism is one of the most significant examples of nature-based tourism from a single ecosystem. Coral reefs attract foreign and domestic visitors and generate revenues, including foreign exchange earnings, in over 100 countries and territories. Understanding the full value of coral reefs to tourism, and the spatial distribution of these values, provides an important incentive for sustainable reef management. In the current work, global data from multiple sources, including social media and crowd-sourced datasets, were used to estimate and map two distinct components of reef value. The first component is local “reef-adjacent” value, an overarching term used to capture a range of indirect benefits from coral reefs, including provision of sandy beaches, sheltered water, food, and attractive views. The second component is “on-reef” value, directly associated with in-water activities such diving and snorkelling. Tourism values were estimated as a proportion of the total visits and spending by coastal tourists within 30 km of reefs (excluding urban areas). Reef-adjacent values were set as a fixed proportion of 10% of this expenditure. On-reef values were based on the relative abundance of dive-shops and underwater photos in different countries and territories. Maps of value assigned to specific coral reef locations show considerable spatial variability across distances of just a few kilometres. Some 30% of the world's reefs are of value in the tourism sector, with a total value estimated at nearly US$36 billion, or over 9% of all coastal tourism value in the world's coral reef countries.     

Contested carbon: Carbon forestry as a speculatively virtual,falteringly material and disputed territorial assemblage

Assemblage approaches are increasingly being used to understand new socio-natural formations arising in relation to the multiple crises of capitalism, climate change and environmental degradation. The valuation of nature is key to these new formations, which the creation of new ‘valued entities’, through calculative practices, that can be accounted for, costed and circulated in monetised and financialised forms in order to ostensibly ‘fix’ certain environmental outcomes in relation to contemporary global crisis. This paper uses an assemblage approach in relation to the global’ transnational project of carbon forestry offsetting and REDD+ in a particular place, Uganda, arguing that it has utility in this respect. While Uganda has been named by Lang and Byakola (2005) as a ‘funny place to store carbon’ due to its contested land politics and history of violence its weak governance context paradoxically re-enforces the imperative for intervention. The paper argues that carbon forestry assemblages are inherently ephemeral and fundamentally contested in three ways: exhibiting a speculative virtuality, faltering materiality and disputed territoriality. Such analysis has the ability to go beyond technical and managerial, or solely pollical economic critiques of carbon forestry, to point at openings for alternatives.     

湿地生态系统服务功能价值评估问题探讨

湿地生态系统服务功能价值评估能够将湿地各项服务功能价值货币化,提供直观的经济数字,是应用较为广泛的一种评估方式。其技术仍处在探索阶段,尚不完善,在应用中反映出许多问题。分析了湿地净化污染、调节大气、调蓄洪水、物质生产等几项代表性的服务功能,总结了评估应用中存在的一些问题,并提出相应的改进建议,为今后的工作提供参考。     

关于意愿调查价值评估法在我国环境领域应用的可行性探讨——以北京市居民支付意愿研究为例

从意愿调查价值评估法的优越性和局限性出发，以在北京市进行的关于市民为改善大气环境质量的支付意愿的调查研究为例，详细分析了调查方法和结果。通过对结果的评价，探讨了意愿调查价值评估法在我国进行环境物品价值评估实践中的可行性，得出了这一方法在我国具有推广前景的结论。最后对意愿调查价值评估法今后在我国实践中的应用提出了几点建议。     

意愿价值法评估生态服务价值的有效性与可靠性及实例设计研究

意愿价值评估法(CVM)以新古典经济学需求理论为基础,通过构造假想市场使生态服务价值的评估成为可能.但是,经验研究中出现了与新古典经济理论及其预期不一致的异常现象,致使CVM的有效性与可靠性受到广泛质疑,而成为目前国际CVM研究的主要方向.对国际、国内CVM有效性与可靠性的研究进展进行了综述,重点梳理了国际上对WTP的内容依赖性、WTP与WTA的显著差异及可靠性与效益转移等方面的经验研究;而国内由于缺乏该方面的系统研究,制约了CVM在我国生态价值评估及环境公共政策制定中的应用.为此,在前期开展的实例研究基础上,设计了适合我国社会经济特征和生态环境特点的CVM有效性与可靠性研究的技术路线和多重调查方案,以期推动CVM在我国的进一步发展与应用.     

A place-based approach to payments for ecosystem services

Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes are proliferating but are challenged by insufficient attention to spatial and temporal inter-dependencies, interactions between different ecosystems and their services, and the need for multi-level governance. To address these challenges, this paper develops a place-based approach to the development and implementation of PES schemes that incorporates multi-level governance, bundling or layering of services across multiple scales, and shared values for ecosystem services. The approach is evaluated and illustrated using case study research to develop an explicitly place-based PES scheme, the Peatland Code, owned and managed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s UK Peatland Programme and designed to pay for restoration of peatland habitats. Buyers preferred bundled schemes with premium pricing of a primary service, contrasting with sellers’ preferences for quantifying and marketing services separately in a layered scheme. There was limited awareness among key business sectors of dependencies on ecosystem services, or the risks and opportunities arising from their management. Companies with financial links to peatlands or a strong environmental sustainability focus were interested in the scheme, particularly in relation to climate regulation, water quality, biodiversity and flood risk mitigation benefits. Visitors were most interested in donating to projects that benefited wildlife and were willing to donate around £2 on-site during a visit. Sellers agreed a deliberated fair price per tonne of CO₂ equivalent from £11.18 to £15.65 across four sites in Scotland, with this range primarily driven by spatial variation in habitat degradation. In the Peak District, perceived declines in sheep and grouse productivity arising from ditch blocking led to substantially higher prices, but in other regions ditch blocking was viewed more positively. The Peatland Code was developed in close collaboration with stakeholders at catchment, landscape and national scales, enabling multi-level governance of the management and delivery of ecosystem services across these scales. Place-based PES schemes can mitigate negative trade-offs between ecosystem services, more effectively include cultural ecosystem services and engage with and empower diverse stakeholders in scheme design and governance.     

基于条件价值法评估罗源湾海洋生物多样性维持服务价值

海洋生物多样性维持服务指海洋中不仅生活着丰富的生物种群,还为其提供了重要的产卵场、越冬场、索饵场、避难所、栖息地等场所.基于条件价值法,于2009年8月对福建罗源湾周边城镇居民进行问卷调查,掌握当地居民对保护罗源湾生物多样性的支付意愿,进而评估罗源湾生物多样性维持服务价值.结果显示,2009年罗源湾4种珍稀生物的支付意愿为618.8元/户.2004-2008年罗源湾生物多样性维持服务价值分别为747.17万元、1 912.52万元、2 565.08万元、3 821.92万元、5 272.00万元.分析表明:家庭年收入、对保护生物的了解程度和环保意识是影响生物多样性维持服务价值的主要因素.对于保护海洋生物多样性来说,经济发展政策和环保政策都是必要的,如何做好这2个政策的平衡是政府应该关注的.     

条件价值法在澳门固体废弃物管理经济价值评估中的比较研究

单边界和双边界是二分式条件价值法(CVM)的2种主要问题格式。针对澳门固体废弃物管理存在的问题，应用单边界和双边界二分式条件价值法，比较研究了澳门固体废弃物管理方案改善的支付意愿及其总经济价值；结果表明，80.56%的居民对新的固体废弃物管理方案存在支付意愿。单边界二分式CVM的分析结果表明澳门居民的平均支付意愿为每人每月14.87~24.12澳门元。双边界二分式CVM的结果表明澳门居民的平均支付意愿为每人每月14.43~17.94澳门元。单边界和双边界二分式CVM的评估结果相差不大，双边界二分式CVM的评估结果较为精确。按2003年澳门总人口44.85万计算，新的固体废弃物管理方案的年总经济价值约为7.02×107澳门元。 