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Plantation and non-plantation biodiversity values: distinctions of economic theories and market-based mechanisms to value ecosystems and utilization within an Australian context
Book chapter   Open access

Plantation and non-plantation biodiversity values: distinctions of economic theories and market-based mechanisms to value ecosystems and utilization within an Australian context

M.P. McHenry and K.X. Ruthrof
Environmental and Agricultural Research Summaries Volume7, pp.385-386
Nova Science Publishers
2014
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Abstract

Decisions regarding plantation development, either implicitly or explicitly, assign a value to ecosystems. Whilst implicit valuation simply ignores biodiversity values in plantation decision-making, explicit valuation introduces a representative value of biodiversity losses or gains. This work explores the functional components of biodiversity, the existing economic theory of biodiversity, and both advantages and disadvantages of various mechanisms that drive ecosystem valuation to further the development of market-based biodiversity policy and markets. This theoretical refinement enables both public and private decisionmakers to clarify the data requirements that underpin uncertainties in what values of biodiversity exist, to whom, and discuss options to develop a comprehensive market-based mechanism that internalises biodiversity values into everyday plantation investment decisions in the Australian context. This work suggests a hybridisation of existing valuation methods are a bridge towards functional biodiversity valuation in both plantation and non-plantation land use, These new ‘non-commodity’ markets may close the economic and market ‘externality gap’ between ecosystem conservation and exploitation, achieving conservation objectives at little cost with thoughtful land use planning.

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