The economic valuation of natural resources and the ecosystems services has a long global history that comes from the sixties. Valuation tools and techniques are thought to be important for the construction of rational and objective choices on the natural resources management, the socio-environmental conflicts and, recently, as a formal argument to take the best decisions for the management of the land. What is the state of the art in economic valuation of goods and ecosystem services in Colombia and South America? What has been the most influential barriers in these developments?. This talk explores the history of economic valuation at Latin America and Colombia by going through the state of art, how economic valuation has been used and how its results have been interpreted. Through a systematic review of significant experiences and the lessons learner in the Colombia´s Natural Capital Strategy. This assesment identify, the barriers and limitations for the interpretation of the valuation. At the end of the talk, some recommendations will be given so economic valuation can be applied as a tool for the construction of land and natural resources management decisions. In Colombia and South America, economic valuation also has a long history, but not as productive and strong on the technical and normative aspects.
