The economic evaluation of ecosystem services

Many of the economic benefits which are derived from nature and from ecosystems are not traded on the market and therefore do not have a market price. Forest ecosystems provide services of climate regulation (through their carbon storage function) and water protection, as well as cultural and recreational, habitat support for plants and animals, and soil formation, amongst many others.

BETA contributes both to the development of methods for the economic assessment of these non-market ecosystem services, and to the understanding of their interactions, which includes the supply of services such as timber production that do have a price on the international market.

This work serves as a foundation for policy development in France and abroad, and aims to furnish appropriate decision-making tools for the private and public management of forests.