The Economics
of Ecosystems
and Biodiversity
on Bonaire

What’s Bonaire’s
Nature Worth?

2

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity on Bonaire

What’s Bonaire’s Nature Worth?
This study is part
of the “Economics
of Ecosystems
and Biodiversity
Netherlands”
(TEEB NL) study.
It is being conducted
for the Caribbean
Netherlands on behalf
of the Dutch Ministry
of Economic Affairs.

The Challenge
Healthy ecosystems such as coral reefs and mangroves are critical to Bonairean
society. In the last decades, various local and global developments have resulted
in serious threats to these fragile ecosystems of Bonaire, thereby jeopardizing
the foundations of the island’s economy. Therefore, it is crucial to understand
how nature contributes to Bonaire’s economy and its wellbeing in order to make
well-founded decisions when managing the economy and nature of this beautiful
tropical island. This research aims to determine the economic value of the main
ecosystem services that are provided by the natural resources of Bonaire and
their overall importance to society. The challenge of this project is to deliver
sound scientific insights that will guide decision-making regarding the protection
of Bonaire’s ecosystems and the management of the island’s economy.

The Approach
By assigning economic values to the main ecosystem services of Bonaire, this research
draws attention to the economic benefits of biodiversity and highlights the growing
costs of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. The study addresses the most
relevant ecosystems and ecosystem services for Bonaire and applies a range of
economic valuation and evaluation tools. By surveying over 1,500 persons, including
tourists, fishermen, local residents, and citizens of the Netherlands, this study
estimated the willingness of individuals to pay for the protection of Bonairean
nature, as well as mechanisms (e.g. user fees) through which such payments would
be transferred. Furthermore, a scenario analysis is conducted to inform decision
makers about the most effective strategies to protect the ecosystems of Bonaire.
This study intensively involved stakeholders from the start to finish, which facilitated
data collection while simultaneously building capacity in applying the concept of
ecosystem services among the target audience.

What’s Bonaire’s Nature Worth?

Country Overview.
Bonaire is a Caribbean island of approximately 288 km2, with about 16,000 permanent inhabitants.
Bonaire is a public entity of the Netherlands. The entire coastline of the island is designated as a
marine sanctuary in an effort to protect what are considered to be some of the most pristine coral
reefs in the Caribbean. Tourism accounts for the majority of economic activity on the islands and
fisheries hold significant economic and cultural influence. Much of Bonaire’s economy and many of
its residents rely on the quality of the island’s ecosystems. Bonaire currently has two protected
natural areas: the Bonaire National Marine Park (BNMP) set up in 1979 and the Washington-Slagbaai
National Park (WSNP) set up in 1969. The national marine protected areas include five Ramsar
sites– Lac, Gotomeer, Pekelmeer, Slagbaai and Klein Bonaire.

The Results
In total, more than 10 different ecosystem services have been valued in monetary terms.
The total economic value (TEV) of the ecosystem services provided by the marine and
terrestrial ecosystems of Bonaire is $105 million per year. This TEV and its underlying
components can be used to build a strategy for effective conservation measures on
Bonaire. After extensively analyzing different scenarios for future ecosystem services
values one result becomes very clear: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
In other words, it is more efficient to prevent extensive environmental damage than
trying to revitalize the environment while there are still threats at hand. With the
current threats unmanaged, the TEV of Bonairean nature will decrease from $105
million today to around $60 million in ten years time and to less than $40 million
in 30 years. The project is well documented and provides several extensive online
reports, five easily accessible policy briefs and a beautiful film documentary that
translates the scientific results into real life situations on Bonaire.

What’s Bonaire’s Nature Worth?

4

Introduction
In the current era of financial insecurity and
environmental degradation it becomes clear that
conventional investments in the economy do
not always contribute to a healthy environment.
In response, a growing community is working
to show that the economy and environment
are strongly interlinked, and that in fact a
healthy environment is critical to financial as
well as human wellbeing. To make well-founded
decisions when managing the economy and
natural environment of a country, it is necessary
to determine all benefits that are derived from
ecosystems and their importance to society.
The challenge is to find methods to accurately
measure and value these ecosystem services.
Bonaire’s unique environment and biodiversity
are part of the Netherlands. The coastal waters
contain coral reefs, mangroves and sea grass
systems, and on land the island is characterized
by dry forest and farmland (Kunukus). Historically,
Bonaire’s inhabitants lived in balance with this
natural environment. However, many pressures
including the fast economic development of the
island have led to environmental degradation
and a loss of the ecosystem services of which
the people of Bonaire take benefit. Therefore,
it is crucial to understand how nature contributes
to Bonaire’s economy and human wellbeing.

What’s Bonaire’s Nature Worth?

‘Ecosystem services’ is a fairly new concept
and represents the benefits supplied to human
societies by natural ecosystems. Ecosystem
services include the coastal protection provided
by marine and coastal ecosystems, the habitat
and nursery support for commercial fisheries,
recreation, cultural significance, or simply
aesthetic pleasure. Most ecosystems are either
public or quasi-public goods: there are no
specific property rights assigned and people
cannot be excluded from using them. Such
situations are often labeled ‘a tragedy of the
commons’ because overuse and degradation
often occurs.
By recognizing and assessing the economic
value of ecosystem services, environmental
economists hope to highlight the willingness
of individuals to pay for their protection, as
well as mechanisms (e.g. user fees) to do so.
One way to define the value of ecosystem
services is by figuring out a communities’
“Willingness-to-Pay” (WTP) to maintain their
public natural spaces in a healthy state. For
example, how much would a resident, as an
individual, be willing to pay to preserve nature
near their home? How much would a tourist
be willing to pay to improve the coral reefs
on an island they visit, even if they don’t fish
or swim there?

5

Terrestrial
Marine
Biodiversity

Secondary data / desk

Nature
in
Bonaire

Values
Primary data / surveys

Ecosystems

Tools

Culture &
recreation

Extended cost benefit
analysis (CBA)

Non-use

Marine
model

Coastel
protection

Terresstrial
model

Fisheries

Value
maps

Tourism

Surveys

Real estate

Stakeholder
engagement

Medicinal
Research

This research project draws attention to
the economic benefits of ecosystems and
biodiversity and highlights the costs of
biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.
Insight into the value of ecosystems and
biodiversity can support decision makers to
make wise and inclusive decisions for longterm sustainable economic development.
To inform decision makers about the most
effective strategies to preserve nature as
an important economic source a full-scale
valuation of all ecosystem services on the
island of Bonaire has been undertaken by
1
WKICS and the VU University Amsterdam.
The study addresses all relevant ecosystems
and ecosystem services for Bonaire and applies
a range of economic valuation and evaluation
tools. The overall analytical framework
followed in the study is depicted in Figure 1.

Results
This extensive study has resulted in a showcase
example for socio-economic valuation studies
in the Caribbean. The main outcome of the
study is the Total Economic Value (TEV) of
Bonaire’s nature. This TEV and its underlying
components are used to build a strategy for
effective conservation measures on Bonaire.
The TEV is the sum of the ecosystem services

• Pier constructions
• Cruise tourism expansion
• Goat control
• Sewage treatment plant
• Solid waste management
• Etc.

Awareness raising
Policy development &
scenario analysis

Biodiversity

What’s Bonaire’s Nature Worth?

Applications

Figure 1:
Overall analytic
framework

Figure 1

Damage assessment
Sustainable financing

provided by the marine and terrestrial
ecosystems of Bonaire. In total, more than
10 different services have been valued in
monetary terms. The most relevant services
that were assessed in extensive sub-studies
are summarized in the following Sections.
Moreover, the results have been translated
into easily accessible policy briefs and a
beautiful film documentary, which places
the scientific results into real life situations.
Local cultural and recreational values
The importance of the natural environment
to the residents of Bonaire has been assessed
through a public survey. Almost 400 households
in Bonaire participated in this household survey,
addressing a wide range of issues such as
ecosystem threats, benefits, and preferred
environmental management options. The
Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) by all Bonairean
households to improve the overall marine and
terrestrial environment is estimated at almost
$4 million per year. Residents identified waste
and coastal development as the main threats
facing nature on the island. A crucial next step
is raising awareness among the residents of
Bonaire about the vital role of nature on the
island, which will result in stronger support for
additional environmental measures and more
responsible behaviour by the local community.

WKICS BV is a Bonaire
based consultancy firm,
specialized in the link
between economy and
nature and contractor
of this research.
1)

7

Tourism value
Bonairean ecosystems support touristic
activities that mostly depend on the quality
of the natural environment, such as diving
and snorkeling. Although the tourism sector
is a substantial component of the economy of
Bonaire, the economic value of the contribution
of nature to Bonaire’s tourism industry has
never been quantified. To determine the tourism
value of Bonairean ecosystems a survey of
tourists visiting Bonaire has been conducted,
recording visitors’ expenditures as well as
their Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) for protection
of Bonairean nature. The expenditure by
tourists on Bonaire is found to be around
$125 million annually. The estimated value
of Bonaire’s natural environment for tourism
is around $50 million. Stay-over tourists are
found to contribute more to the tourism
industry than cruise tourists, and marine
ecosystems prove to be more economically
important than terrestrial ecosystems on the
island. The high WTP of tourists for additional
nature protection in Bonaire suggests that the
current user fees for visitors to Bonaire could
be increased without having an effect on the
number of tourists visiting the Island.
Fisheries values
Fishing provides an important source of income
and recreational enjoyment for the residents
of Bonaire. A substantial part of the catch is
composed of reef-dependent species, which
rely on the health and productivity of local
coral reefs. The study estimates the economic
importance of reef fisheries by accounting for
both the recreational and commercial values
and converts this aggregate value into a
fisheries value map for the purpose of
improved spatial decision making. The annual
reef-related commercial fisheries are valued
at $400,000 while the recreational fishery
value is almost twice as high at $700,000 per
annum. Surveys revealed that fishing is used
as a way to reduce food expenses while at the
same time providing a healthy protein intake
for local residents. Furthermore the research
revealed that local fishermen seem to have a
genuine concern regarding the decline in fish
stock in Bonaire’s coastal waters.

What’s Bonaire’s Nature Worth?

Figure 2:
Spatial allocation
of coral reef fishery
values

Figure 2

Value of nature in the Caribbean
Netherlands for citizens in the Netherlands
How do citizens of the Dutch mainland value
the ecosystems in the Caribbean Netherlands,
even if many will never visit these beautiful
islands? This and other questions are addressed
in an extensive case study. Over 800
face-to-face interviews of people living in
the Netherlands were conducted, and an
additional 500 respondents filled out an online
questionnaire. The most notable result is that
Dutch mainland citizens have a positive WTP
for protecting nature on both sides of the
ocean. Despite a negative perception of
Dutch economic prospects, respondents
placed significant emphasis on environmental
protection. The aggregated monthly amount
for the value of nature protection in the
Caribbean Netherlands by residents of
the Netherlands is estimated at € 17 million
($22 million). Raising awareness among Dutch
citizens that the small population of 20,000
inhabitants of the Caribbean Netherlands is
in no position to fundamentally support the
level of nature conservation that is needed
is an important first step to take.

8

Research value
Nature in Bonaire provides important services
for research and education. The marine and
terrestrial environment of Bonaire is subject
for a large group of academics conducting
and publishing innovative research based
on these unique and easily accessible
ecosystems. Without the presence of healthy
ecosystems, Bonaire would not attract large
numbers of researchers nor would Bonaire’s
nature be a source of inspiration for many
educational activities on the island and beyond.
This sub-study made an inventory of all
ecosystem related research expenditures
funded by governmental and non-governmental
organizations for Bonaire. The annual research
value was estimated at around $1.3 million.
Coastal protection value
The coral reefs of Bonaire play a role in the
protection of coastal properties during storms
and hurricanes. The basic principle of coastal
protection by coral reefs is the observation
that reefs dissipate wave energy either by
wave breaking or friction by reef structures.
The question remains what the economic worth
is of this ecosystem service. A spatial coastal
protection valuation model has been designed
for Bonaire based on the analysis of a wide
range of relevant data. In this study, the coastal
protection value (CPV) is estimated at a 30x30 m
grid cell level, which gives a more spatially
explicit estimation of the CPV of coral reefs.

What’s Bonaire’s Nature Worth?

The annual coastal protection values of
the coral reefs of Bonaire for short-term
(i.e. within 10 years) and long-term processes
(i.e. beyond 10 years) are estimated at $33,000
and $70,000 respectively, based on avoided
damage to private property. Adding public
infrastructure to the valuation of coastal
protection by the coral reefs is likely to
increase the estimated value to considerably
over $0.1 million.
Art value
Artists are inspired by their surroundings.
Such is also the case on Bonaire, where the
natural scenery of the island stimulates artists
to use components of nature in their work.
Clearly, nature plays a crucial role in the
production process of art on Bonaire. The
demand for art consists of the thousands and
thousands of tourists visiting the island, who
are keen to bring home a piece of art to
remember the beauty of the island upon their
return. Moreover, the beautiful photographs
and books produced on Bonaire are
distributed to clients across the world. Given
the explicit demand and supply of art on
Bonaire and its strong dependence on nature,
the art sector on Bonaire plays an important
role in the overall economy and provides an
additional reason to manage nature well on
the island. The value of this ecosystem service
of artistic inspiration is valued at $460,000
annually.

9

Medical and pharmaceutical value
Medicinal plants play important roles in many
traditional societies. The healing properties
of herbal medicines have been recognized in
cultures thousands of years ago. Besides these
local benefits, biodiversity is important for
the development of pharmaceutical treatments
and drugs. The purpose of this sub-study is
to economically value the benefits of species
and ecosystem functions that are relevant
for medicinal and pharmaceutical purposes.
A large part of the population in Bonaire
is found to regularly collect and use local
herbs and other medicinal plants for medical
treatment. Two-third of the inhabitants who
were surveyed made use of local plants as an
alternative to modern medicine or prescription
drugs. The annual medicinal and pharmaceutical
value of nature on Bonaire was estimated at
$0.7 million.
Carbon sequestration
The ecosystem service of climate regulation
deals with greenhouse gas emissions and
how ecosystems can mitigate such effects.
Bonaire has six ecosystems that provide
carbon-sequestering properties: salinas,
dry forest, coral reefs, sea-grass, mangroves
and open ocean. This sub-study aims to value
the climate regulation potential of Bonaire.
This desk study has made a rough attempt
to estimate the carbon sequestration value
of the main ecosystems of Bonaire. Based
on actual carbon market prices this value
was estimated at $1.6 million per year.

What’s Bonaire’s Nature Worth?

Pollination by bats
By supporting the growth of fruit trees
and aesthetically valuable flora, bats play
an important role in preserving high levels
of biodiversity on Bonaire. Although no
estimate is generated of the economic value
of pollination, by describing the possible links
between pollination and the economy, this
sub-study provides comprehensive insights
in the potential economic importance of bats
on Bonaire. Both economic and cultural
reasons have been identified to support the
notion of conserving the bats of Bonaire and
their natural habitat (i.e. caves).
The fact that many people prefer natural over
manufactured environments is often reflected
in house prices. Therefore various environmental
conditions may have a significant impact on
house prices. In Bonaire these include the
view or proximity to water bodies, coral reefs
and other healthy ecosystems. Despite the
limited data available, this sub-study made
an attempt to estimate this so-called amenity
value of nature of Bonaire. No strong impact
of environmental variables onto the house
prices has been detected. Whether this is
a genuine result or whether it is caused by
the limited availability of house sales data
remains to be studied.
Functional valuation of ecosystem services
Clearly, nature on Bonaire has a significant
economic value at present. However, to say
something about the production of these

10

services in the future, we need to understand
more about the functional value of ecosystems,
such as coral reefs. The functional value of
coral reef ecosystems refers to the capacity
of coral reefs to provide ecosystem services
on the long term. The “functional group
approach” was used as a measure of the
importance of habitats based on the level
of representation off island coral functional
groups. The outcome of this sub-study is
matrices presenting relationships between
socio-economic services and ecological
functions. The ecological function consists
of the functional processes of the reef with
the fish and benthic species. Moreover, maps
are generated presenting the functional value
of each location to support twelve ecosystem
services. These maps are analyzed taking into
account resource use on Bonaire and thereby
highlight the ecosystem hotspots indicating
which areas are of high importance for each
ecosystem service

Conclusions &
Recommendations
The analysis of the wide range of ecosystem
services provided by the natural environment
of Bonaire generates many opportunities
for decision makers to improve economic
and environmental policies on the island.
To deliver information to decision makers the
first step is to calculate the Total Economic
Value (TEV) and to grasp the role of nature
in the Bonairean economy. Next, an extended
cost-benefit analysis of alternative future
scenarios provides an objective means of
deciding which interventions in the economy
and environment generate the highest yield.
Such an integral approach is intended to ensure
the betterment of Bonaire’s environment while
at the same time warranting sustainable
economic development.
Total Economic Value versus
the Total Financial Value
By summing up the worth of the range of
valued ecosystem services, the TEV of the
natural environment of Bonaire is estimated

What’s Bonaire’s Nature Worth?

to be more than $105 million annually.
To get an idea of the importance of nature
for Bonaire, it is useful to compare the TEV
of nature to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The GDP of the Bonaire economy was around
$224 million in 2008, which means that
welfare derived either directly or indirectly
from ecosystems is almost half of Bonaire’s
economy. Compared to other island-based
studies, this shows that the economy of
Bonaire has an extremely high dependence
on their natural environment.
Although the TEV of nature on Bonaire is very
large, this aggregated value is composed of
numerous latent welfare-related values that
are not necessarily translated into actual
monetary flows. For example, the value by
Dutch mainland citizens is a genuine economic
value, yet, at the same time, this ecosystem
service is predominantly a non-financial value
(i.e. its value is not [fully] transferred in money
terms to the financial economy of Bonaire).
Of the TEV of $105 million, only one-third of
this amount (i.e. $37 million) is truly traceable
in the financial accounts of the economy of
Bonaire, see figure 3. The majority of this
financial value is captured by the tourism sector.
Costs and benefits of
environmental measures
Through the use of simulation models,
scenario development, and cost-benefit
analysis the efficiency of various interventions
is determined. Out of the extensive analysis
of the ecosystem services and the different
scenarios one result becomes very clear: an
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
In other words, it is more efficient to prevent
extensive environmental damage than trying
to revitalize the environment while there are
still threats at hand. With the current threats
unmanaged, the TEV of Bonairean nature will
decrease from $105 million today to around
$60 million in ten years time and to less than
$40 million in 30 years. Therefore, addressing
the main threats proves to be very cost
effective, e.g. by removing the threat of
goats and lionfish, the environment has the

11

Total Economic Value
($105 million/year)
1%
2%
2%

36%

Figure 3:
the financial of the
economy of Bonaire

Total Financial Value
($37 million/year)

1%
1%
0%
0%

1%
4%
5%

57%

2%

1%
0%
0%
4%

Non-use value
Tourism
Recreation &Cultural
Carbon
83%

Research & Education
Fishery
Medicinal & Pharmaceutica
Art

Figure 3

possibility to regenerate. Similar conclusions
are drawn for the economic efficiency of
improved sewage treatment. This demonstrates
that interventions and policies need to aim
at preventing damage to Bonaire’s nature.

Coastal protection

these stakeholders provided continuous
feedback and frequently reviewed research
output. A final workshop took place in which
stakeholders discussed the results and applied
the monetary estimates in extended cost
benefit analyses and explained the results

Stakeholder engagement
This project intensively involved stakeholders
from the start. Therefore, the local government
began the research with a public kick-off,
followed by several workshops. Relevant
stakeholders from various backgrounds
participated in all sessions. These included
local and national policy makers, nature
conservation organisations, local industry
(e.g. tourism industry), but also financial
services and waste management companies.
One of the objectives was building capacity
with a select group of stakeholders educating
them on socio-economic valuation and learning
from them which ecosystems, ecosystem
services and threats are most relevant on
Bonaire. During the complete research cycle

from their own perspective in the documentary.
This process restated the lesson that raising
awareness locally as well as nationally is of
crucial importance to generate the necessary
support for preserving nature as an important
economic source for Bonaire. Moreover, strong
societal support is needed to convince local
decision makers to apply the recommendations
of the study. Examples of recommendations
are for the improvement and further
development of sustainable financing
mechanisms, emergency plans or damage
assessments protocols in response to
increased hurricane events, and to improve
policies that should guide Bonaire towards
a sustainable green island economy.

Further Information
For further information about valuing
Ecosystem Services on the island of Bonaire,
contact Esther Wolfs (esther@wkics.com)
or Pieter van Beukering at IVM VU, Amsterdam
(pieter.van.beukering@vu.nl) and the webpage
www.ivm.vu.nl/en/projects/Projects/
economics/Bonaire

What’s Bonaire’s Nature Worth?

an ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure
The Economics
of Ecosystems
and Biodiversity
on Bonaire

WKICS bv

IVM
Institute for Environmental Studies

Photo credits
Yvon Jaspers (cover, page 3, 4, 6 - top and bottom left, 8, 9 and 11), Shutterstock (page 6 - bottom right)