It is important to stress that economic valuation is not a panacea for all decisions, that it represents just one input into the decision-making process, along with important political, social, cultural and other considerations. The goal of this text is to assist planners and decision-makers in increasing the input from economic valuation in order to take the best possible road towards a sustainable future. The aim of this book is to provide guidance to policy makers and planners on the potential for economic valuation of wetlands and how such valuation studies should be conducted. Although a number of economic valuation studies of wetlands have been undertaken around the world and economists have developed methodologies for valuing more intangible aspects of the environment, such as amenity or aesthetic factors, no one has synthesised from this literature a common approach to show its overall usefulness to wetland management worldwide. Consequently, this book provides details of the various techniques and examples of wetland valuation studies together with guidance on planning and managing a study and putting the result into a wider decision-making framework.
Wetlands are amongst the Earth's most productive ecosystems.
Historically, many wetlands have been treated as wastelands and drained or otherwise degraded. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance was created to promote the conservation of wetlands and their wise use and management. Chapter 2 explains the role of valuation in decision-making. Many development decisions are made on economic grounds. By providing a means for measuring and comparing the various benefits of wetlands, economic valuation can be a powerful tool to aid and improve wise use and management of global wetland resources.