Value is a practical guide that explains the most important steps and techniques for the valuation of ecosystem services, and the incorporation of its results in decision making. It explains, step by step, how to generate persuasive arguments for more sustainable and equitable development decisions in water resources management.
The Muthurajawela Marsh is part of an integrated coastal wetland system of high biodiversity and ecological significance. Yet it is subject to intense and growing pressures from urban, residential, recreational and industrial development. The short-term economic gains that have influenced land and resource use decisions have neglected to take into consideration the economic value of wetland goods and services.
Economic forces underlie and explain much biodiversity degradation and loss, and economic instruments provide a useful set of tools for strengthening biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and equitable benefit sharing. If National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans are to be effective they must be justifiable in economic terms. This document reports on a project reviewing the use of economic measures in NBSAPs.
