An Evaluation of Economic and
Non-economic Techniques for
Assessing the Importance of
Biodiversity and associated
Ecosystem Services to People
in Developing Countries.
EnvEcon conference
(20 March 2009)
Dr Mike Christie
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Overview
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•
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Background to study
Research aims
Method
Results: from systemised review
Results: methodological, practical and policy issues
Conclusions and recommendations
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Background
• Biodiversity supports a range of ecosystem services that
are of fundamental importance to people, for health,
well-being, livelihoods, and survival (MA, 2005).
• People from the poorest nations tend to have the
greatest immediate dependency on these ecosystem
services.
• Gaining a better understanding of the role of biodiversity
is fundamental for securing the livelihoods and wellbeing of people in developing countries.
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• Aims:
Aims and objectives
– To evaluate economic and non-economic techniques for
assessing the importance of biodiversity to people in developing
countries.
• Objectives:
– assess the ability of a range of techniques to:
(i) reveal the complex relationship between people and their natural
environment;
(ii) identify meaningful preference revelation; and
(iii) produce results that are meaningful to policy-making.
– use case studies to illustrate the difficulties, issues and solutions
encountered and delivered by the techniques examined;
– identify ways in which people use and think about the natural
environment in the contexts being examined.
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Research method
• A systemised search of:
– Environmental Valuation Research Inventory (EVRI);
– Web of Knowledge.
• A survey of researchers and policy makers.
• Five in-depth case studies to examine methodological and practical
problems experience when applying techniques in developing countries:
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Southern Africa,
Montserrat,
Uganda,
Solomon Island,
Agatti Islands, India.
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Methods reviewed
Economic techniques
Market price approaches
Market cost approaches
Replacement costs approaches
Damage cost avoided approaches
Production function approaches
Revealed preference methods
Non-economic techniques
Consultative methods:
Questionnaires
In-depth interviews
Deliberative and participatory approaches:
Focus groups, in-depth groups
Citizen juries
Travel cost method
Health-based valuation approaches
Hedonic pricing method
Q-methodology
Stated preference methods
Delphi surveys
Choice modelling
Rapid rural appraisal
Contingent valuation
Participatory rural appraisal
Participatory approaches to valuation
Deliberative valuation
Mediated modelling
Benefits transfer
Participatory action research
Methods for reviewing information:
Systematic reviews
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Results of the review
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• No. of studies that valued
biodiversity in developing
countries:
1400
– EVRI:
– Web of Knowledge:
1000
NUMBER OF
PAPERS
• 195 economic studies
Cumulative total of
biodiversity valuation studies
sourced from EVRI for all
National Income States from
1960- 2008.
1200
• 183 economic studies
• 101 non-economic studies.
800
HIGH INCOME
600
UPPER
MIDDLE
INCOME
LOWER
MIDDLE
INCOME
400
• Developing country studies
represent 1/10th of all
published biodiversity
valuation studies.
LOWER
INCOME
TRANSITIONA
L INCOME
200
0
19601964
19651969
19701974
19751979
19801984
19851989
19901994
19951999
20002004
20052008
YEARS
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Geographic distribution of papers
60
% OF PAPERS
SOURCED
50
LOWER MIDDLE
INCOME
40
LOWER INCOME
30
TRANSITIONAL
20
10
0
AFRICA
ASIA
EUROPE
NORTH AMERICA
SOUTH AMERICA
REGION
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Method used in biodiversity studies
80
No. of papers
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
10
Authors from a developing country
160
140
48 %
48 %
Any author
None
Number of papers
120
100
32 %
28 %
80
60
40
20
0
All authors
First author
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Results:
Methodological, practical and policy issues
Based on expert survey and case studies.
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Methodological issues
• Low levels of literacy, education and language
– Creates barriers to valuing complex environmental goods
– Makes it difficult to utilise traditional survey techniques such as
questionnaires and interviews.
– More deliberative and participatory approaches to data collection may
overcome these issues.
• Informal or subsistence economies
– People may have little or no experience of dealing with money.
– People find it difficult to place a monetary value on complex and
unfamiliar environmental goods / services.
• Valuation methods have been developed in developed countries
– Are the current best-practice guidelines appropriate for applications in
developing countries?
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Practical issues
• Extreme environmental conditions
– Affect the researcher’s ability to access areas or effectively undertake
research.
• Lack of local research capacity to design, administer and analyse
research projects
– Involvement of local people is considered essential within the research
process to ensure that local nuances / values are accounted for.
• Sometimes easier to administer valuation studies in developing
countries
– Response rates are typically higher
– Respondents are receptive to listening and considering questions posed
– Interviewers are relatively inexpensive (allowing larger sample sizes).
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Policy issues
• Lack of local research capacity
– Lack of awareness of valuation methods and of the importance of
biodiversity to people.
• Lack of empirical valuation studies in developing countries
– Little evidence to illustrate the importance of biodiversity to people.
– Makes future benefits transfer difficult.
• Existing research is often extractive
– Often little engagement with local communities, researchers or
decision makers.
– Research therefore has very little impact on the welfare of local
people.
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Conclusions
• The way people in developing countries think about the natural
environment is different to those in developed countries.
– They have much closer ties to their natural environment.
– Their knowledge is often implicit and / or experiential knowledge
– Low levels of literacy and education mean that most people will have little or
no scientific understanding of their natural environment.
– The above means that people from developing countries may have difficulty
in expressing their value for natural resources.
• Given the above, standard approaches to valuation are unlikely to
effectively reveal the preferences of people in developing countries.
• Valuation may be more effective if:
– Local researchers are used throughout the research process
– Deliberative, participative and action research approaches are incorporated
into the valuation methods.
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Recommendations
• Further research is required:
– To develop best-practice guidelines for valuation research in a
developing country context.
– To explore ways in which deliberative, participatory and action
research approaches might best be incorporated into
economic valuation.
– To build local research capacity to allow local researchers to be
utilised at all stages in the design, administration and analysis
of valuation studies.
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The research team would like to thank Defra for
funding this research project.
Copies of the full report can be found at:
http://users.aber.ac.uk/mec/index.htm
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