Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Service Benefits and Welfare Impacts of Offshore Marine Protected Areas: A Study from the Baltic Sea

Knowledge of ecosystem services (ES) and the benefits provided by offshore marine areas, including the welfare impacts from the establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) is still limited. In the present study we evaluated benefits from ES, citizens’ willingness-to-pay for potential changes in t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2021-09, Vol.13 (18), p.10121
Main Authors: Pakalniete, Kristīne, Ahtiainen, Heini, Aigars, Juris, Andersone, Ingrīda, Armoškaite, Aurelija, Hansen, Henning Sten, Strāķe, Solvita
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquaculture
Aquatic habitats
Biodiversity
Economic activity
Ecosystem services
Ecosystems
Fisheries
Habitats
Marine conservation
Marine ecosystems
Marine environment
Marine protected areas
Protected areas
Spatial data
Sustainability
Valuation methods
Wind farms
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Summary:Knowledge of ecosystem services (ES) and the benefits provided by offshore marine areas, including the welfare impacts from the establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) is still limited. In the present study we evaluated benefits from ES, citizens’ willingness-to-pay for potential changes in the provision of ES, and welfare losses to citizens due to restrictions on economic activities from establishing new offshore MPAs in Latvian waters. The scenarios for the economic valuation were based on analysing the supply of ES from the protected marine habitats, showing changes in the ES supply in policy relevant scenarios of the MPA size. Our study evaluates a wide array of ES delivered by offshore protected habitats and reveals that citizens’ willingness-to-pay for preserving habitats and ES supply exceeds their welfare losses from restrictions in economic activities. Our approach supports the prioritisation of habitat types according to their contribution to ES supply and benefits for citizens. The analysis can be complemented with spatial data regarding distribution of habitats, providing an opportunity to identify areas with the highest ES benefits to support marine protection and spatial planning.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su131810121