Example 41: Study of marshland in France
In 2009, TheMinistry of Ecology and the General Commission on Sustainable Development in
France commissioned a study of three wetland sites located in the Seine-Normandy River
basin: La Bassée, covering 24,000 ha of which 13,000 ha are wetlands, the Oise Valley with
11,000 ha of which 8,000 ha are wetlands, and the Bessin and Cotentin Regional Natural Park
(Normandy), covering 148,000 ha of which 49,000 ha of wetlands. The study was an
opportunity to test themethodology and provide a first series of figures relating to the total
economic values of wetlands and users’ willingness to pay.
In this example, the Total Economic Value calculated for wetlands ranges from 117 to
218million euro per year, based on hypothesesmade relating to a hectare of wetland,
with an average value of 2,400 to 4,400 euro.
The willingness to pay was also evaluated for non-usage values using a survey of 800 people
centred on the following three services:
n
Aesthetic value and recreational value, characterized by the attributes “access to site”
and “landscape”;
n
Water-purification service, characterized by the attribute “water quality”;
n
Biodiversity, characterized by the attribute “animals and plants”, relating to the number
of species and size of their population.
The study highlighted some issues that merit being taken further:
➊
The issue of the “monetization factor” by which the unit value of the service provided is
multiplied to obtain themonetization value of each ecosystem service of the zone
evaluated;
➋
The results expressed in value per service and per hectare according to the type of
wetland concerned;
➌
The services for which the value is difficult to obtain, e.g. market impacts on tourism
and health, scientific value and cultural value.
Value attributed to NRP
Service
Willingness to pay (euro/person/year)
Biodiversity
9 euros
Water purification
15 euros
Landscape and access to site
15 euros
Total
39 euros
84
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THEHANDBOOK FORMANAGEMENT
ANDRESTORATIONOF AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS INRIVERAND LAKE BASINS
7 ECONOMICAND FINANCIAL ASPECTS
