Economic valuation of ecosystem services from coral reefs in the South Pacific: Taking stock of recent experience

Laurans, Yann; Pichon, Nicolas; Binet, Thomas; Brander, Luke; Clua, Éric; David, Gilbert; Rojat, Dominique; Seidl, Andrew

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.11.031

Cited by 73 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Despite the high number of economic valuation studies of coral reefs, to date few have been undertaken in the Pacific region. In a recent assessment that examined economic valuations of ecosystem services from case studies in the Pacific (including Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Hawaii and Northern Marianas) three main ecosystem services (fisheries, tourism and coastal protection) constitute 80% of the estimated values [19]. In the Pacific region in general, subsistence fisheries remain largely unmonitored and highly variable, may return larger economic values than commercial fisheries [19], and may require an upward adjustment in GDP estimates [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a recent assessment that examined economic valuations of ecosystem services from case studies in the Pacific (including Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Hawaii and Northern Marianas) three main ecosystem services (fisheries, tourism and coastal protection) constitute 80% of the estimated values [19]. In the Pacific region in general, subsistence fisheries remain largely unmonitored and highly variable, may return larger economic values than commercial fisheries [19], and may require an upward adjustment in GDP estimates [20]. Cartier and Ruitenbeek [21] observed that most valuation studies involving coral reefs are concerned with their recreational and tourism use value despite fisheries being the most commonly valued harvested product of coral reefs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reaping the reef: Provisioning services from coral reefs in Solomon Islands

et al. 2015

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a b s t r a c tThe marine biodiversity in the Coral Triangle sustains the livelihoods of roughly 100 million coastal people, yet this region is under threat from numerous local and global stressors. Regional actions underway to address coastal and marine degradation and an improve understanding of the social-ecological links between people and their environment. Economic assessments of coral reef provisioning services afforded to rural communities in Solomon Islands identified a diverse range of fisheries-based (fish, seaweed, clam, trochus, crayfish and shells) and coral-based (sand, rubble, stone, and corals for lime, aquarium and curio trades) products. Fisheries products (in particular reef fish) were important for both village subsistence and cash economies, providing the equivalent of US $5173 (7 515) annually per respondent. In contrast, coral products contributed the equivalent of US $2213 (7 396) annually per respondent, primarily to cash economies, particularly in study villages located in close proximity to national markets. Extractive coral activities have the potential to reduce reef resilience, diminish the viability of fisheries and so compromise the livelihoods of dependent communities. Improved management, legislative review and livelihood diversification strategies are likely to be required to manage coral reefs and the ecosystem services they provide across the Coral Triangle region.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reaping the reef: Provisioning services from coral reefs in Solomon Islands

et al. 2015

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“…The results herein presented inform about the effect that sampling scale, quadrat density and strategy have on the estimation of specific seascape metrics and address the following objectives: (1) to quantify the trade-offs between sample scale and robustness in seascape metric estimation; (2) to quantify the trade-offs between sample quadrat density and robustness in seascape metric estimation; and (3) to develop a set of guidelines for seascape metric estimation based on the findings from (1) and (2). We acknowledge that other authors [40,66,74,75] successfully estimated those seascape metrics, and their experience has been fundamental for the selection of parameters in this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Coral reefs provide key provisioning, cultural and regulating ecosystem services [1,2]. Their economic value has been estimated in recent studies through the ecosystem services theory developed by Samonte et al [3], Seenprachawong [4] and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment's classification [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Resolution Orthomosaics of African Coral Reefs: A Tool for Wide-Scale Benthic Monitoring

Palma¹,

Casado

Pantaleo³

et al. 2017

Remote Sensing

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Abstract:Coral reefs play a key role in coastal protection and habitat provision. They are also well known for their recreational value. Attempts to protect these ecosystems have not successfully stopped large-scale degradation. Significant efforts have been made by government and research organizations to ensure that coral reefs are monitored systematically to gain a deeper understanding of the causes, the effects and the extent of threats affecting coral reefs. However, further research is needed to fully understand the importance that sampling design has on coral reef characterization and assessment. This study examines the effect that sampling design has on the estimation of seascape metrics when coupling semi-autonomous underwater vehicles, structure-from-motion photogrammetry techniques and high resolution (0.4 cm) underwater imagery. For this purpose, we use FRAGSTATS v4 to estimate key seascape metrics that enable quantification of the area, density, edge, shape, contagion, interspersion and diversity of sessile organisms for a range of sampling scales (0.5 m × 0.5 m, 2 m × 2 m, 5 m × 5 m, 7 m × 7 m), quadrat densities (from 1-100 quadrats) and sampling strategies (nested vs. random) within a 1655 m 2 case study area in Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve (Mozambique). Results show that the benthic community is rather disaggregated within a rocky matrix; the embedded patches frequently have a small size and a regular shape; and the population is highly represented by soft corals. The genus Acropora is the more frequent and shows bigger colonies in the group of hard corals. Each of the seascape metrics has specific requirements of the sampling scale and quadrat density for robust estimation. Overall, the majority of the metrics were accurately identified by sampling scales equal to or coarser than 5 m × 5 m and quadrat densities equal to or larger than 30. The study indicates that special attention needs to be dedicated to the design of coral reef monitoring programmes, with decisions being based on the seascape metrics and statistics being determined. The results presented here are representative of the eastern South Africa coral reefs and are expected to be transferable to coral reefs with similar characteristics. The work presented here is limited to one study site and further research is required to confirm the findings.

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“…But even when data are available to estimate the probable economic impact of environmental change, they tend not to lead to consensus regarding the economic costs or benefits of altering the current course of action (Johnson and Hope 2012). Consequently, strictly economic evaluations are of limited use in shaping environmental policy (Laurans et al 2013) and do not reduce the temporal mismatch between environmental data sufficiency and policy action. For many longstanding and emerging environmental challengessuch as climate change, ocean acidification, emissions of reactive sulfur and nitrogen compounds (SO x and NO x ), and non-point source water pollution-knowing what changes societies must make (and the costs associated with making those changes) still does not result in timely action to remediate the causes of these problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Narratives Can Motivate Environmental Action: The Whiskey Creek Ocean Acidification Story

Kelly

Cooley

Klinger

2013

AMBIO

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Even when environmental data quantify the risks and benefits of delayed responses to rapid anthropogenic change, institutions rarely respond promptly. We propose that narratives complementing environmental datasets can motivate responsive environmental policy. To explore this idea, we relate a case study in which a narrative of economic loss due to regionally rapid ocean acidification-an anthropogenic change-helped connect knowledge with action. We pose three hypotheses to explain why narratives might be particularly effective in linking science to environmental policy, drawing from the literature of economics, environmental policy, and cognitive psychology. It seems that yet-untold narratives may hold similar potential for strengthening the feedback between environmental data and policy and motivating regional responses to other environmental problems.

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Economic valuation of ecosystem services from coral reefs in the South Pacific: Taking stock of recent experience

Cited by 73 publications

References 37 publications

Reaping the reef: Provisioning services from coral reefs in Solomon Islands

Reaping the reef: Provisioning services from coral reefs in Solomon Islands

High Resolution Orthomosaics of African Coral Reefs: A Tool for Wide-Scale Benthic Monitoring

Narratives Can Motivate Environmental Action: The Whiskey Creek Ocean Acidification Story

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