Conservation values

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Beyond value (Collar 2003)

conservation is disadvantaged as the benefits are often less tangible

economic valuation of nature has three drawbacks:

masks the way we really value nature

is a relative value subject to the vagaries of fashion and circumstance

accepts that problems thrown up by human development are techniques which can be solved by nature

consideration should be given to those values which inspire people to love nature and confer well-being

fulfillment, excitement, beauty, pleasure, poetry etc.

These values are immeasurable, have no price tag and place biodiversity beyond value

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Global value of ES (Costanza et al 2014)

Natural assets are critical components of inclusive wealth, well-being, and sustainability

training well-being requires a balance of all assets - individual, people, society, economy and ecosystems

ES do not flow directly from natural capital to human well-being - requires interaction with social, built and human capital to provide benefits

valuation is unavoidable. we already value ES every time we make a decision involving trade-offs

Valuation is about assessing trade-offs toward achieving a goal

the value in monetary units is an estimate of ES benefit to society expressed in units that communicate with a broad audience

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Principles of Valuation (Daily et al 2000)

Identification of possible alternatives

all impacts identified and measured for each alternative

rarely precise estimates but important to quantify uncertainty and the risk of proceeding

Valuation

Translates the consequences of maintaining the status quo vs. each alternative into comparable units of impact on well-being now and in the future

Limitations

Revealing and aggregating preferences and addressing uncertainty

reliance on individual preferences to construct social values

Measurement of incremental values is difficult for ES as underlying systems tend to be highly interdependent

Relative weight put on current versus future costs and benefits. E.g. High discount rates can be used to justify policies that are exploitative