Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for
Monetary valuation of rare species and imperiled habitats as a basis foreconomically evaluating conservation approaches
Document Type Article
Published in Endandgered but keep it quiet
Abstract
Management actior,~d irected to~vardsth e 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 benefitcosts 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.