A Tool for Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Flanders

1. A Tool for Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Flanders Sara Ochelen – Flemish Ministry of Environment, Nature and Energy

2. Cost benefit analysis for better informed decisions • Intended new policy or new project • Society better off with or without? A or B? • Cost Benefit Analysis: all welfare effects, in EUR. • Better informed decisions IF also impacts on ecosystems included. • Need to quantify the impact on ecosystem and to price the change in the services they deliver. • No figures for impacts on ecosystems available. • Team of economists and ecologists filled this gap: VITO, University of Antwerp, Free University of Amsterdam. • Toolkit for valuation of ESS.

3. Cultural and regulating services • Cultural ecosystem services: • Value of recreation (use); • Value of existence and preserving nature for future generations (non-use). • Regulating services: • Nutrient removal and stock of N & P; • Climate regulation by C-capture in biomass and soil; • Improving air quality by capturing polluents as PM10; • Noise buffer by forests. Tool: handbook and supporting on-line calculator for valuation of ecosystem services.

4. Value of cultural services • No prices  economic valuation techniques. • Expensive and time consuming. • We want ready-to-use formula for many cases. • Valuation function developed with empirical data. • Reveal value of people by asking them questions. • Choice experiment: sophisticated questionnaire: multiple pretests, representative sample, rigourous statistical analysis of results… • Interviewed 3000 people in Flanders with choice cards.

5. Choice cards to reveal WTP

6. Valuation function • All answers pooled: wealth of information about preferences of people for nature. •  WTP of average household in function of: nature characteristics, population characteristics and distance. • Forest > heath land > natural grassland. • Available trails > no trails. • Members NGO > non members. • Close to home > far away.

7. Apply valuation function to new nature in region of Antwerp “Opstalvallei” Berendrecht

8. Apply valuation function to new nature in region of Antwerp “Opstalvallei” • Area of 190 ha agricultural land. • Compensation area for Masterplan Port Antwerp. • To be transformed in new nature: wetlands and grasslands, with high biodiversity. • Accessible for recreation. • Adjecent land use: industry, buildings and nature. • 1 million households living in area 50 km. Total cultural value: € 170 million/year

9. Value of regulating services Change in quantity x price Δ ton CO2 in soil Δ kg PM in air Δ decibel in houses Δ kg N in water … 50 €/ton CO2 (international literature) 30 €/kg PM (health costs) 1% house value/dB (house depreciation) 74 €/kg N (marginal abatement cost) …

10. Regulating service water purification Quantity x Price = € 3,8 million Change in denitrification potential Cost curve N-removal Additional 51.660 kg N times 74 €/kg N = 3,8 € million

11. Conclusions • Tool available for Flanders to quantify multiple ecosystem benefits and to express them in money terms. • Enables summing up and comparing value new nature or destroyed nature with other benefits and costs in CBA. • Tool supplied to potential users on voluntary basis. • Hope to include ecosystem valuation in compulsary CBA guidelines for infrastructure. • Remaining challenges concerning quantification and data availability and quality. • Nevertheless: step forward for better informed decisions on measures or projects with impacts on ecosystems.

12. Thank you for your attention! for more information: Sara.Ochelen@lne.vlaanderen.be Tanya.Cerulus@lne.vlaanderen.be Inge.Liekens@vito.be http://milieueconomie.lne.be