Ecological Economics of Biodiversity

Paulo A.L.D. Nunes, Global Manager and Coordinator, Ecosystems Economics Unit, United Nations Environment Programme, Kenya, Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh, ICREA Professor, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain and Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Peter Nijkamp, Professor Emeritus, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the Centre for European Studies, Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza din Iasi, Romania and the School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, China

• Contents: Preface Part I: Context 1. Overview 2. Biodiversity, Ecosystem Functions and Human Activity Part II: Bio-Ecological Foundations 3. Conceptualizing Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions 4. Measuring Biodiversity Part III: Economic Foundations 5. Economic Analysis of Biodiversity Values 6. Measuring Economic Value of Biodiversity Benefits Part IV: Economics–Ecology Interface 7. Integrated Ecological–Economic Modelling and Analysis of Biodiversity 8. Multicriteria Evaluation 9. Research Synthesis and Value Transfer Part V: Policy and Conclusions 10. Biodiversity Policy 11. Conclusions Appendix: Red Book Classification of Species References Index

'This is a very readable introduction to the ecological economics of biodiversity. Particularly useful is the careful presentation of four major concepts of biodiversity (genes, species, ecosystems, and functional uses) and their valuation. The authors address the concerns that biodiversity cannot (and should not) be valued, but then present the major economic valuation approaches that have been applied by economists to this thorny issue. A short volume (one of its virtues), the book is not designed to be a 'cook book' that offers detailed explanations of various valuation approaches. Rather, the book should be seen as identifying the inputs or 'ingredients' of a successful analysis. The authors pull together an impressive list of past valuation studies of biodiversity and biological resources and discuss their results, their coherence and the reasons why values may differ (often because seemingly similar studies really measure quite different attributes). In fact, this form of meta-analysis is one of the major contributions of the volume. The book ends with a short but useful chapter of conclusions and policy implications, thereby reminding us that the reason for the analysis of biodiversity uses and values is to design effective policies to ensure that more, rather than less, biodiversity is conserved for future generations. This book is highly recommended for all those who are interested in a better understanding of what biodiversity is, the likely economic values associated with it, and why it is being lost at such an alarming rate.'