The methods to estimate the economic values described above are divided into
two categories, revealed and stated preference approaches; both can be monetary and
non-monetary. In the case of monetary methods, the revealed preference methods are
based on market prices or observed choices (e.g. touristic destinations) as proxies of
public’s preferences over ecosystem services.
The stated preference methods, on the other hand, are based on the construction of
hypothetical markets and are conducted through direct questionnaires. In such
questionnaires, the public/stakeholders are asked to directly place a value to the
ES described in the survey or to choose between hypothetical scenarios that include
bundles of services affected by the management scenarios. The services are
described by unique characteristics of each ecosystem (or “attributes”) which in
the case of CES can be leisure features of the area or other features for which tourists
and locals are attaching a value on protecting against future degradation/harm. These
characteristics are combined with a cost attribute (usually MPA entrance fee of tax)
to form scenarios or choice situations, and then researchers can infer their relative
rankings and monetary values by collecting preference data.
During the last few years, the strand of literature that involves non-monetary
valuation methods is receiving increasing attention. Cheng et al. (2019) identify
13 such non-monetary methods, that they also divide in revealed and stated preference, just like the monetary ones discussed above. The three revealed methods use
observation, and/or images, photos posted by the public, advertisements or data from
social media (that might include underwater cultural heritage, marine wildlife,
extraordinary seabed, etc.) as proxies to obtain the values on people’s preferences.
Stated preference methods use again questionnaires, but unlike monetary valuation,
the questions now focus on qualitative information. Such narratives are obtained by
asking respondents to either engage in storytelling or describe their perception of
well-being from CES, using various indicators. These indicators can be combined
with other techniques, such as participatory mapping, participatory GIS or public
participatory GIS to combine citizen science and inform spatial planning decisions.
The “participatory mapping method” links the CES perceived by respondents to a
specific location, while the participatory GIS incorporates GIS, GPS and remote
sensing image analysis software with interviews/questionnaires and human spatial
knowledge. Finally, the public participatory GIS brings out the perceptions of the
public with the use of geographic technology education.
8.4 CES Valuation and MPA Management
8.4.1 Monetary Valuation
The EU Maritime Spatial Planning Directive 2014/89/EU defines the Maritime
Spatial Planning (MSP) as “a process by which the relevant Members State’s
8 Monetary and Non-monetary Valuation of Cultural Ecosystem Services in Marine. . .
129
two categories, revealed and stated preference approaches; both can be monetary and
non-monetary. In the case of monetary methods, the revealed preference methods are
based on market prices or observed choices (e.g. touristic destinations) as proxies of
public’s preferences over ecosystem services.
The stated preference methods, on the other hand, are based on the construction of
hypothetical markets and are conducted through direct questionnaires. In such
questionnaires, the public/stakeholders are asked to directly place a value to the
ES described in the survey or to choose between hypothetical scenarios that include
bundles of services affected by the management scenarios. The services are
described by unique characteristics of each ecosystem (or “attributes”) which in
the case of CES can be leisure features of the area or other features for which tourists
and locals are attaching a value on protecting against future degradation/harm. These
characteristics are combined with a cost attribute (usually MPA entrance fee of tax)
to form scenarios or choice situations, and then researchers can infer their relative
rankings and monetary values by collecting preference data.
During the last few years, the strand of literature that involves non-monetary
valuation methods is receiving increasing attention. Cheng et al. (2019) identify
13 such non-monetary methods, that they also divide in revealed and stated preference, just like the monetary ones discussed above. The three revealed methods use
observation, and/or images, photos posted by the public, advertisements or data from
social media (that might include underwater cultural heritage, marine wildlife,
extraordinary seabed, etc.) as proxies to obtain the values on people’s preferences.
Stated preference methods use again questionnaires, but unlike monetary valuation,
the questions now focus on qualitative information. Such narratives are obtained by
asking respondents to either engage in storytelling or describe their perception of
well-being from CES, using various indicators. These indicators can be combined
with other techniques, such as participatory mapping, participatory GIS or public
participatory GIS to combine citizen science and inform spatial planning decisions.
The “participatory mapping method” links the CES perceived by respondents to a
specific location, while the participatory GIS incorporates GIS, GPS and remote
sensing image analysis software with interviews/questionnaires and human spatial
knowledge. Finally, the public participatory GIS brings out the perceptions of the
public with the use of geographic technology education.
8.4 CES Valuation and MPA Management
8.4.1 Monetary Valuation
The EU Maritime Spatial Planning Directive 2014/89/EU defines the Maritime
Spatial Planning (MSP) as “a process by which the relevant Members State’s
8 Monetary and Non-monetary Valuation of Cultural Ecosystem Services in Marine. . .
129