Economic valuation of wetlands on the river basin scale -- a
discussion paper Economic Valuation of Wetlands: an Important
Component of Wetland Management Strategies at the River Basin
Scale Senior Advisor on Environment and Development Cooperation,
Economic valuation can be defined as the attempt to assign
quantitative and monetary values to goods and services provided
by environmental resources or systems, whether or not market
prices are available to assist us. When market prices are not
available (e.g., for flood control services, for disaster
mitigation services, for erosion avoidance ), the value is
established by the willingness to pay for the good or service,
whether or not we actually make any payment. A major problem in
assessing the value of ecosystems arises when the services
provided, such as climate change regulation or biodiversity
conservation, benefit the global community. However, this short
introduction will not deal with valuation of ecosystems global
services. Why estimate ecosystem value