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R.K. Turner
waste minimisation, end-of-pipe treatment and 'safe' disposal, etc). Table 13.3 summarises some relevant environmental state changes and related economic valuation
methods.
A second assessment category, partial valuation, encompasses situations which require the evaluation of alternative resource allocations or project options. A planned
large-scale project (or extension of an existing project) such as a residential/recreational housing complex or port and harbour facilities, might require the conversion of
coastal wetlands and mudflats with significant biodiversity and other functional values.
So the net benefits of the wetland conversion (NBc) would be the direct benefits of the project (B D ), minus the direct costs of the project (CD = capital and operating costs), minus
the forgone net production and environmental benefits of the conserved wetland (NB fe ):
It is sometimes the case that estimation of only some elements of the valuation expression above is necessary to prove that the development project is uneconomic, provided that the on-going utilisation of the natural system is at a sustainable level. An
analysis of the opportunity cost of wetland conservation (i.e. forgone project direct net
benefits), for example, might show that BD - CD is only marginally positive. Some past
agricultural conversion schemes in Europe and housing developments in the USA have
actually been shown to yield negative opportunity costs (Turner et al. 1983; Batie and
Mabbs-Zeno 1985).
As long as the conserved wetland yields a flow of functional benefits, storm buffering capacity, fish and other product outputs etc., the positive valuation of only some of
these outputs/services will sometimes be enough to tip the economic balance against
the large-scale project. On the other hand, the development project may generate significant employment and regional income benefits and be seen as part of a regional
development policy strategy. Increasing employment/reducing regional income disparities may therefore be interpreted as pre-emptive constraints on the cost-benefit
analysis and such benefits may be heavily weighted by policymakers.
A third assessment category covers the evaluation of protected areas schemes involving restricted or controlled resource use. Such marine park or coastal nature reserve schemes, for example, might be a required compensating shadow project element
in a large-scale project programme approval process or alternatively might preclude
the existence of any given project altogether. The precise circumstances will depend on
how 'weakly' or 'strongly' sustain ability standards/constraints are interpreted and imposed byplanninglmanagement authorities (Turner 1993). The on-going loss of coastal
wetlands might have reached such a stage that regulatory authorities were seeking to
impose a 'no net wetland loss' rule on all future development activity in the coastal
zone (a pre-emptive environmental policy constraint on CBA).
In situations where there is a direct choice between a development project and a
marine park or similar conservation scheme, or where compensating environmental
shadow project possibilities are not available, it may be necessary to use the total valuation approach. The analysis would seek to determine whether the total net benefits of
the protected area kept in a sustainable 'natural' state (NBp) exceeded the direct costs of
establishing the protected zone and necessary buffer zone (C p )' plus the net benefits
R.K. Turner
waste minimisation, end-of-pipe treatment and 'safe' disposal, etc). Table 13.3 summarises some relevant environmental state changes and related economic valuation
methods.
A second assessment category, partial valuation, encompasses situations which require the evaluation of alternative resource allocations or project options. A planned
large-scale project (or extension of an existing project) such as a residential/recreational housing complex or port and harbour facilities, might require the conversion of
coastal wetlands and mudflats with significant biodiversity and other functional values.
So the net benefits of the wetland conversion (NBc) would be the direct benefits of the project (B D ), minus the direct costs of the project (CD = capital and operating costs), minus
the forgone net production and environmental benefits of the conserved wetland (NB fe ):
It is sometimes the case that estimation of only some elements of the valuation expression above is necessary to prove that the development project is uneconomic, provided that the on-going utilisation of the natural system is at a sustainable level. An
analysis of the opportunity cost of wetland conservation (i.e. forgone project direct net
benefits), for example, might show that BD - CD is only marginally positive. Some past
agricultural conversion schemes in Europe and housing developments in the USA have
actually been shown to yield negative opportunity costs (Turner et al. 1983; Batie and
Mabbs-Zeno 1985).
As long as the conserved wetland yields a flow of functional benefits, storm buffering capacity, fish and other product outputs etc., the positive valuation of only some of
these outputs/services will sometimes be enough to tip the economic balance against
the large-scale project. On the other hand, the development project may generate significant employment and regional income benefits and be seen as part of a regional
development policy strategy. Increasing employment/reducing regional income disparities may therefore be interpreted as pre-emptive constraints on the cost-benefit
analysis and such benefits may be heavily weighted by policymakers.
A third assessment category covers the evaluation of protected areas schemes involving restricted or controlled resource use. Such marine park or coastal nature reserve schemes, for example, might be a required compensating shadow project element
in a large-scale project programme approval process or alternatively might preclude
the existence of any given project altogether. The precise circumstances will depend on
how 'weakly' or 'strongly' sustain ability standards/constraints are interpreted and imposed byplanninglmanagement authorities (Turner 1993). The on-going loss of coastal
wetlands might have reached such a stage that regulatory authorities were seeking to
impose a 'no net wetland loss' rule on all future development activity in the coastal
zone (a pre-emptive environmental policy constraint on CBA).
In situations where there is a direct choice between a development project and a
marine park or similar conservation scheme, or where compensating environmental
shadow project possibilities are not available, it may be necessary to use the total valuation approach. The analysis would seek to determine whether the total net benefits of
the protected area kept in a sustainable 'natural' state (NBp) exceeded the direct costs of
establishing the protected zone and necessary buffer zone (C p )' plus the net benefits