ASSESSING SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF NATURA 2000 - A TOOLKIT FOR PRACTITIONERS Output of the EC project Financing Natura 2000: Cost estimate and benefits of Natura 2000 Contract No.: 070307/2007/484403/MAR/B2 Kettunen, M., Bassi, S., Gantioler, S. & ten Brink, P. (IEEP) September 2009 Edition Citation and disclaimer This report should be quoted as follows: Kettunen, M., Bassi, S., Gantioler, S. & ten Brink, P. 2009. Assessing Socio-economic Benefits of Natura 2000 – a Toolkit for Practitioners (September 2009 Edition). Output of the European Commission project Financing Natura 2000: Cost estimate and benefits of Natura 2000 (Contract No.: 070307/2007/484403/MAR/B2). Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), Brussels, Belgium. 191 pp. + Annexes. The contents and views contained in this report are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent those of the European Commission. Picture credits © Stefan Simis © Ilana Saarikko © Kyla Tienhaara © Mia Vuomajoki © Marianne Kettunen The Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) is an independent institute with its own research programmes. Based in London and Brussels, the Institute‟s major focus is the development, implementation and evaluation of EU policies of environmental significance, including agriculture, fisheries, regional development and transport. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................. 5 1 THE OBJECTIVE & OVERVIEW OF THE TOOLKIT ............................................ 6 1.1 Who is the toolkit for? .................................................................................................. 7 1.2 What are the foreseen benefits? ................................................................................... 8 1.3 Approach, structure & application .............................................................................. 9 1.3.1 Approach & guiding principles ................................................................................ 9 1.3.2 Structure & application .......................................................................................... 11 PART 1: CONTEXTUAL GUIDANCE ............................................................................... 13 2 NATURA 2000 SITES & THEIR SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS ....................... 14 2.1 Ecosystem services provided and supported by Natura 2000 sites ......................... 14 2.2 Other socio-economic benefits .................................................................................... 19 3 GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR THE VALUATION OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES 20 3.1 What benefits does biodiversity provide? ................................................................. 20 3.2 How to present, measure and communicate the different values? ......................... 21 3.3 A key question: who benefits where? ........................................................................ 23 3.4 How to estimate the value of ecosystem services? .................................................... 24 3.5 Economic valuation and the risk of double counting ............................................... 26 PART 2: APPLYING THE TOOLKIT ............................................................................... 27 4 STEP 1. A RAPID OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF POSSIBLE BENEFITS ........... 28 4.1 Identification and rapid assessment of the services ................................................. 28 4.2 How to present the results of the rapid assessment .................................................. 29 4.3 How to use the rapid assessment for identifying which services to analyse in more detail? ...................................................................................................................................... 32 5 STEP 2. GUIDANCE TO ESTIMATING DIFFERENT NATURA 2000 RELATED BENEFITS .............................................................................................................................. 48 2 5.1 Provisioning: Biodiversity resources ......................................................................... 50 5.2 Provisioning: Water .................................................................................................... 57 5.3 Biochemicals & pharmaceuticals ............................................................................... 64 5.4 Cultural & social services: Ecotourism and recreation ........................................... 68 5.5 Cultural & social services: Cultural, landscape & amenity values and inspirational services .............................................................................................................. 76 5.6 Regulating services: Climate regulation ................................................................... 83 5.7 Regulating services: Water regulation ...................................................................... 95 5.8 Regulating services: Water purification & waste management ............................ 103 5.9 Regulating services: Air quality regulation ............................................................ 110 5.10 Regulating services: Erosion regulation .............................................................. 116 5.11 Regulating services: Avalanche regulation ......................................................... 122 5.12 Regulating services: Storm damage control ........................................................ 127 5.13 Regulating services: Wild fire mitigation ............................................................ 133 5.14 Regulating services: Biological control ................................................................ 139 5.15 Regulating services: Pollination ........................................................................... 144 5.16 Regulating services: Human health ..................................................................... 149 5.17 Regulating services: Maintaining genetic & species diversity ........................... 154 5.18 Supporting services ................................................................................................ 159 5.19 Wider socio-economic benefits ............................................................................. 163 PART 3: HOW TO INTERPRETE, PRESENT & COMMUNICATE THE DIFFERENT VALUES OF NATURA 2000 ...................................................................... 167 6 NATURA 2000 SITE RELATED BENEFITS: THE OVERALL PICTURE ......... 168 7 HOW TO INTERPRET, PRESENT AND COMMUNICATE THE OVERALL BENEFITS? .......................................................................................................................... 170 7.1 How to present the results? ...................................................................................... 170 7.2 Interpreting and using the results at site level ........................................................ 181 7.3 Interpreting and using the results in the context of multiple sites ........................ 183 3 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 186 ANNEXES Annex 1. Overview of a number of standard economic methodologies used in assessing value of ecosystem services. Annex 2. An example of a case study template to present the results Annex 3. A template for visual presentation of ecosystem services provided by a Natura 2000 site 4 ABBREVIATIONS CAP EU Common Agricultural Policy CDM Clean development mechanism EAFRD European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development EC European Commission EEA European Environment Agency ETS Emission trading system EU European Union GDP Gross Domestic Product GNP Gross National Product GWP Gross World Product IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change LIFE European Environment Fund MA Millennium Ecosystem Assessment NVP Net present value PES Payments for environmental services PPP Purchasing power parity SCC Social Cost of Carbon TEV Total economic value WEI Water exploitation index WTA Willingness to accept WTP Willingness to pay 5 1 THE OBJECTIVE & OVERVIEW OF THE TOOLKIT This Toolkit is a practical guide for practitioners involved in the management of Natura 2000 sites. It is hoped that the Toolkit will inspire managers and help them explore the existing and potential economic and social benefits of their sites. Protected areas, such as Natura 2000 sites, contain biodiversity and ecosystems of high conservation value. In addition, these areas provide a range of benefits (direct and indirect) to our societies and economies. These benefits are often referred to as ecosystem services (see Box 1.1). These services include an array of natural resources (e.g. timber, crops, fish, game and medicinal products) and several valuable ecosystem processes, such as an ecosystems‟ ability to regulate floods and climate, purify water and secure the pollination of crops. In addition, nature forms an important basis for maintaining human health, both physical and mental, and creating opportunities for recreation and tourism. Biodiversity and ecosystems are also essential in forming our cultural characteristics and values. Consequently, it has been widely acknowledged that living nature is fundamental for human wellbeing and furthermore it also plays an essential role in supporting the functioning of our societies and economy. Box 1.1 Ecosystem services Ecosystem services are the benefits that people obtain from ecosystems. According to the widely used classification developed by the Millennium