Economic Valuation of Mangrove Ecosystems : Potential and Limitations

Mangrove ecosystems provide a range of non-market as well as marketed goods and services, both on and off-site. Yet the full value of mangrove products is not easily recognised, and is, therefore, often neglected in development planning. As a result it is often concluded that mangrove forests should be converted to uses which generate directly marketable products, such as aquaculture. Economic valuation methods offer a more comprehensive assessment of the many goods and services provided by mangrove ecosystems, and hence may contribute to more informed decision-making. The objective of this paper is to review and analyse the scope and limitations of different valuation methods for assessing management alternatives for mangrove ecosystems. The paper compares a range of studies on mangroves with regard to the methodologies employed and the range of products and services valued. It includes a discussion of the benefits of valuation methods for assessing management alternatives, with particular reference to the goods and services of Pagbilao Bay in the Philippines - the study site of the project Economic Valuation of Mangrove-Fishpond Interactions, for which this paper was written. The literature review and the discussion of the Pagbilao case study illustrate the potential of valuation methods for evaluating management alternatives, as well as the practical limitations to their application. In principle, methods are available but the lack of data and quantitative knowledge regarding some key ecological relationships affirm the need to for further inquiry. CREED Working Paper No. 14; Contact: Jacqueline.Saunders@iied.org