THE RECREATIONAL VALUE OF CLEY MARSHES NATURE-RESERVE - AN ARGUMENT AGAINST MANAGED RETREAT

In the shoreline management plan for the coast of North Norfolk (Engla nd), managed retreat has been identified as the most preferable option for the Cley Marshes nature reserve. In general, arguments in favour of managed retreat are (i) opportunities for nature restoration and de velopment, (ii) economic efficiency, and (iii) enhanced resilience to environmental stress and shock. However, with respect to the Cley rese rve, recent floods have shown that increased salinity is likely to dec rease its natural value, while this study shows that the economic-effi ciency criterion is not valid either. This paper discusses the applica tion of contingent valuation and travel-cost methods on data collected by interviews of 160 visitors to the reserve, which has provided esti mates of the annual recreational value of the site.