Prioritize the consideration of ecological scale and fair distribution over valuing nature

by: Matthias Schröter¹, Bas Amelung¹, Anne Böhnke-Henrichs¹, Alexander P.E. van Oudenhoven¹, Klara H. Stumpf², Jacqueline Loos³

Several authors call for concern about using economic valuation of ecosystem services for biodiversity conservation, such as this recent piece in Science. In today´s blog post, we would like to emphasize that valuation of ecosystem services is only one of the many facets that could be considered for biodiversity conservation and sustainability:

It is important to distinguish between the ecosystem services concept, biophysical or socio-cultural assessment of services, economic valuation, and related policy instruments. Valuing services can contribute to slowing down ecosystem degradation. Unfortunately, economic valuation is often used beyond its reasonable scope.

Cloudforest restoration project in Costa Rica: Ecological limits need to be set before valuation can be meaningfully applied

We relate the limits and opportunities of ecosystem services assessment and…