The value of a mangrove in Sri Lanka and a new valuation publication (21/12/05)

Good morning everyone:

Two related news items to help keep you informed:

1. The first is a news release from IUCN on how healthy mangroves saved a village in Sri Lanka. It includes a recent assessment of the value of the mangroves through an economic household survey which indicated that intact and healthy mangroves can have an overall use value of as much as US$ 14,000 per hectare per household while the protection value of the mangroves was estimated at around US$ 2,000 per household. Read the full story here http://www.iucn.org/en/news/archive/2005/12/mangrove_iucn_tsunami_pr.pdf.

2. Indirectly related to this, here's an IUCN/World Bank/Nature Conservancy publication from 2004 entitled How much is an ecosystem worth? Assessing the economic value of ecosystems. This publication sets out to clarify the aims and uses of economic valuation. It is not intended as a detailed "How to" manual on valuation but aims instead to provide guidance on the types of questions that valuation can answer and the type of valuation that is suited to each purpose. This 33-page publication is available for download in PDF format here: http://www.biodiversityeconomics.org/applications/library_documents/lib_document.rm?document_id=710

And that's it - for those of you celebrating Christmas, Merry Christmas; for those of you about to take a break for a few days, Happy Holidays; and for those of you still chained to your desks and computer screens, well, just Hang in There!

Best regards, Sandra Hails, Ramsar Secretariat
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Sandra Hails, CEPA Programme Officer
Ramsar Convention Secretariat
Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 999 0176; Fax: +41 22 999 0169
E-mail: hails@ramsar.org
Web Site: http://ramsar.org
CEPA mini-Web site: http://ramsar.org/outreach_index.htm

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