The progressive development of economic valuations of biodiversity in recent decade enables the application of the concept of payments for ecosystem services (PES) in order to conservation of forest biodiversity in protected areas. In this article, the PES concept principles are applied for the monetary valuation of natural forest habitats, which were mapped in the Czech Republic in order to create the Natura 2000 European network. The method is based on expert evaluation of every type of mapped habitat by a point value (ranging from 1 to 6 points) for specific ecological evaluating criteria. The monetary value of every point of specific natural forest habitats was defined from the economic analysis of financial expenses of realised ecological restoration projects in the Czech Republic. This method is therefore based on a rather exceptional application of the PES concept, which is still rare in literature because it is based on actual invested financial means, not only on the potential willingness to spend these financial means. The presented results of the monetary valuation of the natural forest habitats in the Czech Republic indicate that the method used for the monetization of forest biodiversity in protected areas can represent a promising decision support tool in countries where habitat mapping results are available.
Abstract:The remnants of primeval Norway spruce forests in the European temperate zone are crucial for maintaining forest biodiversity in high mountain landscapes. This paper presents results of a multidisciplinary research and evaluation project on the management practices for mountain spruce forests in the Natura 2000 site (National Nature Reserve Serak-Keprnik in the Hruby Jesenik Mountains, the Czech Republic). Results are based on combining research on the historical development of the forest ecosystem and predictions of future dynamics using a forest growth simulation model. The presented results show that a non-intervention management strategy for mountain spruce forest in the next 50 years complies with the Natura 2000 requirement to maintain the existing character of the forest habitat. Thus, the results indicate that the current management plan for the spruce forests does not require significant corrections in the context of its conservation goals (i.e., maintaining biodiversity and current character of the forest ecosystem dominated by Norway spruce). The results of this study suggest that combining the knowledge of historical development with forest inventory data using forest growth simulation represents a suitable support tool for the assessment of management practices for forest habitats in protected areas.
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