title: Is economic valuation of ecosystem services useful to decision-makers? Lessons learned from Australian coastal and marine management.
abstract: Economic valuation of ecosystem services is widely advocated as being useful to support ecosystem management decision-making. However, the extent to which it is actually used or considered useful in decision-making is poorly documented. This literature blindspot is explored with an application to coastal and marine ecosystems management in Australia. Based on a nation-wide survey of eighty-eight decision-makers representing a diversity of management organizations, the perceived usefulness and level of use of economic valuation of ecosystem services, in support of coastal and marine management, are examined. A large majority of decision-makers are found to be familiar with economic valuation and consider it useful - even necessary - in decision-making, although this varies across groups of decision-makers. However, most decision-makers never or rarely use economic valuation. The perceived level of importance and trust in estimated dollar values differ across ecosystem services, and are especially high for values that relate to commercial activities. A number of factors are also found to influence respondent's use of economic valuation. Such findings concur with conclusions from other studies on the usefulness and use of ESV in environmental management decision-making. They also demonstrate the strength of the survey-based approach developed in this application to examine this issue in a variety of contexts.
authors.affiliation: Université de Bretagne Occidentale, UMR AMURE, Brest, France; CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship, Marine and Atmospheric Research, Brisbane, Australia; School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. Electronic address: jean-baptistem@spc.int.
authors.forename: Jean-Baptiste
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Marre
authors.affiliation: Ifremer, UMR M101, AMURE, Unité d'Économie Maritime, Brest, France; CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship, Marine and Atmospheric Research, Brisbane, Australia; School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Thébaud
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship, Marine and Atmospheric Research, Brisbane, Australia; Center for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pascoe
authors.affiliation: Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia; Center for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jennings
authors.affiliation: Université de Bretagne Occidentale, UMR AMURE, Brest, France.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boncoeur
authors.affiliation: School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Louisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Coglan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D017753:Ecosystem; D058735:Environmental Policy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011050:Policy Making; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Coastal and marine ecosystems; Decision-making; Economic valuation; Ecosystem management; Ecosystem services