Monetary valuation of rare species and imperiled habitats as a basis for economically evaluating conservation approaches

Authors

Richard M. Engeman, USDA-APHIS-Wildlife ServicesFollow
Stephanie A. Shwiff, USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
Henry T. Smith, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Park ServicesFollow
Bernice Constantin, USDA/APHIS/ WS

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

January 2004

Comments

Published in Endangered Species Update 21:2 (April-June 2004, pp. 66-73. http://www.umich.edu/~esupdate/

Abstract

Management actions directed towards the conservation of species or habitats are usually measured in resource improvement. Nevertheless, the decision to select and carry out such actions are rooted in the available funding. Therefore, to truly evaluate the benefit/costs of a conservation-directed management action, the resource improvement should be in the same metric as the expenditures. To this end, we describe here a variety of methods for attaching monetary values to rare species and habitats. We also give examples of applications with which we have been involved to demonstrate how such species and habitat valuations have allowed economic analyses of conservation approaches. The economic results helps to decide on how best to obtain the most from finite funding resources.