SYMP 6-5
Quantifying and valuing coastal ecosystem services to assist policy decisions
Although considerable progress has been made in quantifying and valuing some of the key ecosystem goods and services provided by coastal habitats, fundamental challenges remain. The biggest challenge is inadequate knowledge to link changes in ecosystem structure and function to the production of valuable goods and services. Another problem is that very few ecosystem services are marketed. This presentation discusses recent advances in overcoming these challenges as an aid to coastal policy and management. To illustrate key valuation issues, the presentation introduces two case studies from the US Gulf Coast state of Louisiana: quantifying ecosystem services and the 2012 Master Plan for coastal Louisiana and valuing storm protection by marsh in southeast Louisiana; and one case study from Thailand: valuing storm protection by mangroves.
Results/Conclusions
The 2012 Louisiana Master Plan for the Louisiana coast illustrates that to assist coastal management and policy, quantitative assessment need not always require valuation of ecosystem benefits. The ecosystem services analysis conducted by the 2012 Master Plan involved only indirect quantification of these services through proxy characteristics, such as habitat suitability indices and other measures. By comparing and contrasting the Louisiana and Thailand storm protection valuation studies, it is possible to understand better how methods for assessing this vital coastal service have improved and become more reliable for coastal management. The presentation concludes with some final remarks on the state of coastal wetland valuation for assisting policy decisions.