ISSUES IN ECOSYSTEM VALUATION - IMPROVING INFORMATION FOR DECISION-MAKING

In Spring 1991, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency convened an e xpert group of ecologists, economists and other social scientists for the purpose of advancing the stare of the art of ecosystem valuation m ethods. This Ecosystem Valuation Forum was organized as a dialogue bec ause it has been clear from the outset that agreement even on the mean ing of the term ''ecosystem valuation'' could not be taken for granted , Individuals from diverse disciplines, and from industry, environment al groups and government agencies disagree about what information abou t ecosystem services is needed, how it should be used and, therefore, what would constitute an advance in the methods that analysts should e mploy. The Forum discussed the varied ways in which experts from diffe rent disciplines approach valuation, what ecosystem attributes or serv ices are important to value, and the factors that complicate the task of assigning values to ecosystem attributes. The Forum placed particul ar importance on approaching the problem of ecosystem valuation from t he perspective of decision makers. Therefore, members discussed the va riety of decision makers who might need valuation information, the con troversy over where balancing decisions about costs and benefits shoul d be made, and the implications for what information is needed within different institutional constraints. In addition, agency decision make rs operate under real time and resource constraints. Thus, the Forum d iscussed the need to develop protocols that would guide analysts in a search for decisive information. The Forum concluded that the time is ripe for making new progress in solving some of these problems, while acknowledging that it may not be possible to develop a single unifying definition of value, Instead, the goal would be to understand how var ious concepts of value are structured, how they relate to each other, and how they can guide us toward a more integrated valuation process. The Forum recommended that next steps in addressing these issues be or ganized around case studies, particularly those that would enable rese archers to improve linkages between ecological and economic methods an d to develop improved protocols for valuation studies.