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Valuing a Protected Tropical Forest: A Case Study in Madagascar

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Economic analysis can provide useful infor­ mation for these difficult decisions. Of course, economic analysis should only constitute one component of the process of deciding whether to create a national park (other components would include sociopolitical and ecological considerations). Traditional economic cost-benefit analysis for national parks, how­ ever, is problematic, since most of the benefits from park creation are not traded in formal markets, creating a potential policy bias in favor of competing land uses. We address this by examining the use of economic valuation techniques for evaluating the nonmarket benefits and costs of creating national parks in developing countries

Citation

Kramer, Randall; Munasinghe, Mohan; Sharma, Narendra; Mercer, Evan; Shyamsundar, Priya. 1994. Valuing a Protected Tropical Forest: A Case Study in Madagascar. In: M. Munasinghe and J. McNeely (eds.), Protected Area Economics and Policy: Linking Conservation and Development. World Bank and IUCN: Washington, D.C. Pages 191-202.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/49789