Abstract
Natural ecosystems provide an array of critical but largely undervalued goods and services. Because these are seldom included in benefit-cost calculations of land use change, the value of wild land development nearly always appears greater than protecting wild nature. The following paper introduces a theoretical framework within which environmental economists evaluate ecosystem services. This is followed an assessment of three types of ecosystem services with particular relevance to the developing world pharmaceutical drug development from native plants, the economics of non-timber product extraction, and the benefits and costs of ecotourism as a development strategy. We conclude with an overview of recent attempts to provide a global estimate of the value of nature’s services.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adger, W. N., K. Brown, R. Cervigini, and D. Moran, Total Economic Value of Forests in Mexico. Ambio, 24: 286–296, 1995
Anyinam, C., Ecology and Ethnomedicine: Exploring Links between Current Environmental Crisis and Indigenous Medical Practices. Social Science & Medicine. 40: 321–329, 1995
Balick, M., and P. Cox, Plants, People, and Culture: The Science of Ethnobotany. New York, Scientific Publications, 1996
Balick, M. J., and R., Mendelsohn, Assessing the Economic Value of Traditional Medicines from Tropical Rain Forests. Conservation Biology, 6(1): 128–130, 1992
Burke, I. C., C. M., Yonker, W. J., Parton, C. V., Cole, K., Flach and D. S., Schimel, Texture, Climate, and Cultivation Effects on Soil Organic Matter Content in U.S. Grassland Soils. Soil Science Society America Journal, 53: 800–805, 1989
Caniago, I. and S. F., Siebert, Medicinal Plant Ecology, Knowledge and Conservation in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Economic Botany, 52: 229–250, 1998
Cox, P. A., Nafanua: Saving the Samoan Rain Forest. New York: W. H. Freeman, 1999
Cox, P. Will Tribal Knowledge Survive the Millennium? Science, 287: 44–45, 2000
Daily, G., Nature’s Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems. Washington DC, Island Press, 1997
Fennell, D., Ecotourism: An Introduction. London. Routledge, 1999
Gatto, M. and G., Le Leo, Pricing Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, The Never Ending Story. BioScience, 50 2000
Godoy, R., R. Lubowski, and A. Markandya, A Method for the Economic Valuation of Non-timber Tropical Forest Products. Economic Botany, 4:7 220–233, 1993
Hoevenagel, R., The Contingent Valuation Method: Scope and Validity. Thesis, Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, 1994
Hoagland, P. et al. A Methodological Review of Net Benefit Evaluation for Marine Reserves. World Bank, 1995
Honey, M. Ecotourism and Sustainable Development. Washington DC: Island Press, 1999
Jungerius, P. D. Indigenous Knowledge of Landscape-ecological Zones among Traditional Herbalists: A Case Study in Keiyo District. Kenya, Geo-Journal 44: 51–60, 1998
Kell, B. From the Shamen to the Clinic: The Role of Ethnobotany in Antiviral Research. International Antiviral News, 9: 123–124, 2001
Krutilla, J., Environmental Resource Services of Malaysian Tropical Moist Forest, Washington DC: Resources for the Future, 1991
Lebbie, A. and R., Guries, Ethnobotanical Value and Conservation of Sacred Groves of the Kpaa Mende in Sierra Leone. Economic Botany, 49: 297–308, 1995
Levin, D. A. Alkaloid-bearing Plants: An Ecogeographic Perspective. The American Naturalist, 110: 261–284. 1976
Mendelsohn, R. and M. Balick, The Value of Undiscovered Pharmaceuticals in Tropical Forests. Economic Botany, 49: 223–228, 1995
Menkhaus, S. and D. Lober, International Ecotourism and the Valuation of Tropical Rainforests in Costa Rica. Journal of Environmental Management, 47: 1–10, 1996
Milliken, W., R. P., Miller, S. R., Pollard, and E. V. Wandelli, The Ethnobotany of the Waimiri Atroari Indians of Brazil. Kew: Royal Botanical Gardens, 1992
Mitchell, R. C., and R. T., Carson. Using Surveys to Value Public Goods: The Contingent Valuation Method. Resources for the Future, Washington D.C., 1989
Myers, N. Biodiversity’s Genetic Library. In: Nature’s Services, ed. G. C. Daily, Washington D.C., Island Press, 255–273, 1997
Navrud, S., Linking Weak and Strong Sustainability Indicators: Critical Loads and Economic Values. John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 1999
Pandey, A. K. and A. K., Bisaria, Rational Utilization of Important Medicinal Plants: A Tool for Conservation. The Indian Forester, 124: 197–202, 1998
Peters, C., A., Gentry, and R., Mendelsohn, Valuation of an Amazonian rainforest. Nature, 339: 655–656, 1989
Pitman, N., and P. Jorgensen. Estimating the Size of the World’s Threatened Flora. Science, 298: 989, 2002
Principe, P. P. Valuing the Biodiversity of Medicinal Plants. In: Conservation of Medicinal Plants. Ed. O. Akerele, V. Heywood, and Synge, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 79–124, 1991
Place, Susan E. Nature Tourism and Rural Development In Tortuguero. Annals of Tourism Research 18: 186–201, 191
Soejarto, D. D., and Farnsworth, N. R. Tropical Rain Forests: Potential Source of New Drugs? Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 32: 244–256, 1989
Urgent, D. Medicine, Myths and Magic: The Folk Healers of a Mexican Market. Economic Botany 54: 427–43, 2000
Voeks, R. A. Tropical Forest Healers and Habitat Preference. Economic Botany 50: 354–373, 1996a
Voeks, R. A. Extraction and Tropical Rain Forest Conservation in Eastern Brazil. In: Tropical Rainforest Research—Current Issues, ed. D. Edwards, W. Booth, and S. Choy, Netherlands: Kluwer, 477–487, 1996b
Voeks, R. A. Sacred Leaves of Candomblé: African Magic, Medicine, and Religion in Brazil. Austin: University of Texas Press. 1997
Voeks, R. A. and Leony, A. forthcoming. Forgetting the Forest: Assessing Medicinal Plant Erosion in Eastern Brazil. Economic Botany.
Voeks, R. and Nyawa, S. Healing flora of the Brunei Dusun. Borneo Research Bulletin. 32: 178–195, 2001
Voeks, R. A. and Sercombe, P. The Scope of Hunter-Gatherer Ethnomedicine. Social Science & Medicine 50: 1–1,2 2000
Wunder, S. Ecotourism and Economic Incentives An Empirical Approach. Ecological Economics 32: 465–479, 2000
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Voeks, R.A., Rahmatian, M. The providence of nature: Valuing ecosystem services. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 1, 151–163 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03325828
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03325828