Social and Economic Benefits of Protected Areas

Marianne Kettunen is Senior Policy Analyst at the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) and Guest Researcher at the Finnish Environment Institute, Helsinki, Finland with dedicated experience in studies, capacity building and policy influence related to the socio-economic role of biodiversity and ecosystem services and supporting the integration of these aspects into decision-making processes.

Protected areas (PAs) contain biodiversity and ecosystems of high conservation value. This provides a comprehensive introduction to the socio-economic benefits of PAs and PA networks and provides step-by-step practical guidance on identifying, assessing, valuing and communicating the various ecosystem services and related benefits provided by PAs.

Introduction 1. Introduction, Objectives and Approach Part 1: Contextual Guidance 2. Protected Areas: Their Values and Benefits 3. General Principles for Estimating the Socio-economic Value of Benefits Provided by Protected Areas Part 2: Practical Guidance Step I. A Scoping Assessment of Possible Benefits 4. Scoping Assessment of Benefits Provided by Protected Areas Annex 1. Scoping Assessments of Benefits Provided by Protected Areas - an Example of Application 5. Deciding which Benefits to Analyse in More Detail Step II. Detailed Methodological Guidance to Estimating Benefits 6. Provisioning Services and Related Goods Annex 2. Step by Step Guidance: Valuation of Biodiversity Resources 7. Regulating Services and Related Goods Annex 3. Step by Step Guidance: Water Related Ecosystem Services Annex 4. Step by Step Guidance: Climate Change Mitigation (Carbon Storage and Sequestration) 8. Cultural Services and Related Goods Annex 5. Step by Step Guidance: Ttourism, Rrecreation and Oother Cultural Benefits 9. Appreciating the Value of Supporting Service 10. Wider Socio-economic Benefits 11. Costs Related to Protected Areas 12. Assessing Net Benefits: Site Level Annex 6. Calculating Net Present Values (NPVs) and the Effect of Different Discount Rates 13. Assessing Net Benefits: Multiple Sites Step III: Interpreting, Using and Communicating The Estimates 14. Interpreting the Results of Socio-economic Assessments 15. Using and Communicating the Results Conclusions 16. Conclusions and Way Forward