Analysing the Agricultural Costs and Non-market Benefits of Implementing the Water Framework Directive
Implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) represents a fundamental change in the management of water in Europe with a requirement that member states ensure 'good ecological status' for all water bodies by 2015. Agriculture is expected to bear a major share of WFD implementation costs as it is compelled to reduce the emission of diffuse water pollutants. The research outlined here comprises interdisciplinary modelling of agricultural land use, hydrology and consequent water quality effects to consider both agricultural costs and the non-market recreational use (and potentially non-use) values that implementation of the Directive may generate. A theme throughout the research is the spatial distribution of the costs and benefits of WFD implementation, which is addressed through the use of GIS techniques in the modelling of agricultural land use, the integration of land use and hydrological models, and the estimation, aggregation and transfer of the economic value of the benefits.
Farmers' Adaptive Responses to Climate Change: Evidence from the Small-Scale Rubber Sector in Southeast Vietnam
There is great need for research on climate change adaptation, especially for agricultural producers, including those involved in natural rubber production. Almost all of the traditional rubber growing areas in the world suffer from climate extremes, which have resulted from climate changes. The intensity of climate changes will vary across these areas, and it is difficult to anticipate exactly how these changes will occur in the future (RRII, 2010). In the meantime, the rubber industry is also highly vulnerable to market uncertainty (Viswanathan, 2008; Wijesuriya et al., 2007). These facts require special attention in formulating adaptation strategies (Wijesuriya & Dissanayake, 2009), and require rubber farmers to adapt (RRII, 2010). Many solutions through technologies and cultivation practices have been developed over time to offset losses caused by the negative effects of climate change on rubber plantations. They exist to improve latex yield and technical efficiency. These solutions are adopted in some regions, but not everywhere (Barlow & Muharminto, 1982). Assessment of the farm-level adoption of adaptation strategies available is crucial in order to provide information for the formulation of related policies (Charles & Rashid, 2007; Smit et al., 2001). There is a gap in farming systems research in developing countries regarding the comprehensive assessment of climate change adaptation at the farm level. The comprehensive approach used in this study, in terms of methods of analysis of climate change, climate variability, their negative impacts on crop performance, perception, vulnerability, adaptation and logical mechanisms of farmer adaptation, is a methodological contribution beyond what has been done in previous studies. Developing and applying a comprehensive analytical framework will allow local decision makers as well as related stakeholders to manage climate change adaptation in farming systems. The main purpose of this study is to investigate farmer households' adaptive responses, their preference patterns for climate change adaptation and the determinants of their adaptive responses. This knowledge is of great interest for designing climate change adaptation schemes; therefore, this research can assist local policy-makers to address the challenges of climate change and variability.
Economic Analysis for the UK National Ecosystem Assessment: Synthesis and Scenario Valuation of Changes in Ecosystem Services
We combine natural science modelling and valuation techniques to present economic analyses of a variety of land use change scenarios generated for the UK National Ecosystem Assessment. Specifically, the agricultural, greenhouse gas, recreational and urban greenspace impacts of the envisioned land use changes are valued. Particular attention is given to the incorporation of spatial variation in the natural environment and to addressing issues such as biodiversity impacts where reliable values are not available. Results show that the incorporation of ecosystem services and their values within analyses can substantially change decisions.
Estimating the range of economic impacts on farms of nutrient leaching reduction policies
Declining agricultural incomes, increasing concern over rural poverty and sporadic crises such as those of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and Foot and Mouth Disease mean that the imposition of further costs on U.K. agriculture are likely to be politically and socially sensitive. Such additional costs are however on the agenda with the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD; European Commission, 2000). The WFD aims to achieve "good ecological status" in EU water bodies reducing, inter alia, diffuse pollution from agriculture. In this study, we assess four possible WFD measures proposed to the U.K. Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs: reducing inorganic fertilizer application, conversion of arable land to ungrazed grassland, reducing livestock stocking rates, and reducing livestock dietary N and P intakes. For each measure, changes in farm gross margins (FGMs) are estimated using a dataset of over 2000 farms. In contrast to previous analyses, which have focussed upon mean responses on stylized farms, our approach allows the analysis of the range of impacts across a wide variety of real-world farms and farm types. Findings reveal high variability in impacts. Cost-effectiveness analysis indicates that, on average, cropping farms seem capable of reducing nutrient leaching in a more cost-efficient way than livestock or dairy enterprises.
Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Services Valuation for Policy and Management
Understanding the economic value of nature and the services it provides to humanity has become increasingly important. In this paper we review the progress to date on both the necessary conceptual framework and empirical valuation studies required to bolster decision support systems targeted at integrated coastal zone management goals. We first review definitions of ecosystem services. We then highlight and discuss the importance of: spatial explicitness; marginal changes; double-counting; non-linearities; and threshold effects. Finally, using UK case studies on managed coastal realignment, we highlight the usefulness of an ecosystem services sequential decision support system to environmental valuation and policy assessment.
Valuing coastal and marine ecosystem services
The analysis of coastal and marine ecosystems is a complex issue. The paper suggests that the policy analysis undertaken to appraise the an environmental project, policy or programme, should be supported by an ecosystem services approach for the valuation of ecosystem services and benefits. The use of such an approach for coastal and marine Mediterranean ecosystems is examined. Although constrained by uncertainties surrounding scale and spatial issues, and the nonlinearity and thresholds problem, a valuation of the Mediterranean Sea benefits can be undertaken. This can form an important component of a decision support system guided by sustainability objectives.
Ecosystem Services and Economic Theory: Integration for Policy-Relevant Research
It has become essential in policy and decision-making circles to think about the economic benefits (in addition to moral and scientific motivations) humans derive from well-functioning ecosystems. The concept of ecosystem services has been developed to address this link between ecosystems and human welfare. Since policy decisions are often evaluated through cost-benefit assessments, an economic analysis can help make ecosystem service research operational. In this paper we provide some simple economic analyses to discuss key concepts involved in formalizing ecosystem service research. These include the distinction between services and benefits, understanding the importance of marginal ecosystem changes, formalizing the idea of a safe minimum standard for ecosystem service provision, and discussing how to capture the public benefits of ecosystem services. We discuss how the integration of economic concepts and ecosystem services can provide policy and decision makers with a fuller spectrum of information for making conservation-conversion trade-offs. We include the results from a survey of the literature and a questionnaire of researchers regarding how ecosystem service research can be integrated into the policy process. We feel this discussion of economic concepts will be a practical aid for ecosystem service research to become more immediately policy relevant.
A cost-benefit appraisal of coastal managed realignment policy
European coasts are coming under increasing threat as a result of climate change from erosion and flooding. While coastal defences such as sea walls have been constructed since Roman times to protect human settlements from the sea, it is now increasingly recognised that these defences are unsustainable. The security provided by 'hard' engineered defences has encouraged development on the coast, and the defences themselves have led to the loss of intertidal habitat and the natural protection it provides. An alternative to maintaining 'hard' defences (hold-the-line) to protect land from increasing sea levels is managed realignment, where the engineered defences are deliberately breached. By allowing the coastline to recede to a new line of defence further inland, intertidal habitat is created providing natural protection from flooding and erosion. The study evaluates the economic efficiency - using cost-benefit analysis - of various managed realignment scenarios compared to a strategy of holding-the-line within the Humber estuary in North-east England. The results of this analysis show that managed realignment can be more economically efficient than holding-the-line over a sufficiently long time period - generally greater than 25 years. Sensitivity analysis demonstrates that results are more sensitive to the amount and value of intertidal habitat generated than they are to the amount and value of carbon stored by this habitat. Cost-benefit analysis is viewed as one component of a wider policy appraisal process within integrated coastal management.
The UK National Ecosystem Assessment: Valuing Changes in Ecosystem Services 1
The chapter summarizes work conducted under the UK National Ecosystem Assessment and the ESRC SEER project. This synthesizes valuation studies of the effects of land-use change on agricultural output, greenhouse gases, open-access recreation, and urban greenspace. All effects are valued in economic terms and contrasted with an assessment of the costs of maintaining present levels of biodiversity. The valuation models are spatially explicit, revealing the effect that underlying variation in the natural environment has on mitigating or exacerbating effects. Various scenarios of change are appraised over an extended period of time. Results suggest that sole adherence to the maximization of market values can lead to net losses when other impacts are assessed. In contrast, changes which emphasize both market and non-market effects can yield substantially greater benefits for society.
Ecosystem Services: Response
C. Obst 'et al'. provide a welcome opportunity to clarify the difference between environmental-economic cost-benefit analyses (such as ours) and environmental accounting exercises [such as the UN-SEEA initiative]. Accounting studies attempt to assess the total value of goods related to ecosystem services in a manner comparable to that used for market-priced goods in national accounts. A decline in the ecosystem services account over time signals a potential need to invest in underlying natural capital. However, such accounts do not indicate the most cost-effective form of that investment. Environmental economic analyses such as ours typically consider changes in value from the status quo that alternative investments provide, and identify those that yield higher value for money. The two approaches are complements rather than substitutes and serve differing but highly compatible elements of the decision-making process.