Sabah Abdullah

The cost and feasibility of marine coastal restoration

Land-use change in the coastal zone has led to worldwide degradation of marine coastal ecosystems and a loss of the goods and services they provide. Restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed and is critical for habitats where natural recovery is hindered. Uncertainties about restoration cost and feasibility can impede decisions on whether, what, how, where, and how much to restore. Here, we perform a synthesis of 235 studies with 954 observations from restoration or rehabilitation projects of coral reefs, seagrass, mangroves, salt-marshes, and oyster reefs worldwide, and evaluate cost, survival of restored organisms, project duration, area, and techniques applied. Findings showed that while the median and average reported costs for restoration of one hectare of marine coastal habitat were around US

Mapping Alpine Landscape Values and Related Threats as Perceived by Tourists

80000 (2010) and US

Introduction to economic valuation methods

1600000 (2010), respectively, the real total costs (median) are likely to be two to four times higher. Coral reefs and seagrass were among the most expensive ecosystems to restore. Mangrove restoration projects were typically the largest and the least expensive per hectare. Most marine coastal restoration projects were conducted in Australia, Europe, and USA, while total restoration costs were significantly (up to 30 times) cheaper in countries with developing economies. Community- or volunteer-based marine restoration projects usually have lower costs. Median survival of restored marine and coastal organisms, often assessed only within the first one to two years after restoration, was highest for saltmarshes (64.8%) and coral reefs (64.5%) and lowest for seagrass (38.0%). However, success rates reported in the scientific literature could be biased towards publishing successes rather than failures. The majority of restoration projects were short-lived and seldom reported monitoring costs. Restoration success depended primarily on the ecosystem, site selection, and techniques applied rather than on money spent. We need enhanced investment in both improving restoration practices and large-scale restoration.

Strategies to conserve the koala: cost-effectiveness considerations

ABSTRACT Alpine environments are increasingly appreciated by nature-based tourism, notwithstanding recent economic crises. To benefit from this and maintain the attractiveness of a tourist destination, it is important to recognise the values of landscapes. We developed and tested a qualitative spatial valuation methodology, integrating existing quantitative survey methods, to support destination management and landscape planning at the local level. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and a mapping exercise at a nature-based tourism destination in northern Italy. In identifying and mapping tourists’ perceived landscape values and related threats, we also considered tourist profiles, experiences and preferences. The results indicated three tourist types (active seniors, families and sportive visitors). They identified five different landscape values (scenic, outdoor activity, aesthetic, historical-cultural and tranquillity) and seven categories of threats (urbanisation, lack of maintenance, congestion, visual and/or acoustic disturbance, pollution, overuse, and traffic). The maps show diverse ‘tourism landscapes’ and provide useful insights into sites with high value or with potential conflict between rival uses, which can effectively ground proposals for the management of valued sites and support local spatial planning to maintain perceived landscape values.

Benefits and Related Threats of Coral Reef Ecosystem Services

Economic valuation has been widely used in different sectors, for example in: health, transport, and the environment. The use of valuation methods has increased, owing to the number of interest groups, corporations, governments and researchers demanding economic values for environmental goods. The World Bank over three fiscal years (2000 to 2003) conducted an average number of 6 to 9 projects per year in environmental valuation (Silva and Pagiola, 2003). Also, there have been various incidents at the global level that have compelled and accelerated the valuation of environmental goods and services. One example was the much publicized incident in 1989, involving the Exxon/Valdez oil tanker that struck a reef in Prince

Willingness to pay for renewable energy: Evidence from a contingent valuation survey in Kenya

ABSTRACT Considerable resources are invested in conserving species that may be locally, but not globally, threatened. There are a variety of motivations for such parochial conservation practices and policies, though they can be ineffective or inefficient in achieving meaningful conservation outcomes at either local or broad scales. The koala in Australia is an example of this problem as it is a species which is highly valued by the public, is only threatened over a portion of its range, and yet attracts considerable conservation effort in the portions of its range where it is in decline. We review the conservation status of the koala and critically evaluate prescriptive and incentive-based policies for koala management in rural and urban contexts. We identify several approaches to koala conservation that are likely to be ineffective in advancing koala conservation and suggest possible reasons for their continued use. We also identify opportunities for relatively cost-effective rural conservation that have not been adequately explored. Long-term declines of koala populations in some regions imply that existing management strategies are ineffective. We conclude that several key challenges must be addressed to facilitate effective resource investment and improve conservation outcomes.

Choice experiment study on the willingness to pay to improve electricity services

Understanding the impact of direct and indirect drivers of change on diverse marine ecosystems such as coral reefs implies that users as well as stakeholders and decision makers need to reconsider their strategies, roles and perceptions in meeting the challenges confronted by these ecosystems. The findings in this article, derived from distinct studies, imply that societies that are more exposed to threats like climate change are more likely to be vulnerable, particularly those that have low social adaptive capacity. Moreover, other results from primary valuation studies highlight that users such as recreational divers are supportive of paying towards the protection and/or restoration of coral reef ecosystems. However, what is urgently needed in benefit estimation of coral reef services is the interconnectedness of this ecosystem state to human welfare.