Confronting Uncertainty and Missing Values in Species Conservation Investment with Environmental Value Transfer

Decision tools for species conservation, such as benefit cost analysis (BCA) and project prioritization protocol (PPP) use monetary values to measure benefits or to assign priorities across species. Non-use (or passive) values are an important, yet difficult to quantify, category of benefits. When not estimated they may be assigned a zero value by decision makers. This results in the under-provision of conservation dollars to substantial non-use values generating projects and actions. To overcome the problem, we provide a guide to environmental value transfer (EVT) that allows decision makers to derive indirect estimates of non-use values. Environmental value transfer, together with consideration of estimated benefits uncertainty, promise better decision making and improved species conservation outcomes.