Payment for ecosystem services (PES): a holistic tool for sustainable forest management-a case study from Pakistan

Economic valuation of ecosystem services is a new concept in forest management. Economic valuation provides basis for payment for ecosystem services (PES). Therefore, objective of this study was to evaluate eco-tourism and carbon stock services of the Maindam valley, District Swat, Pakistan. For the carbon stock calculation, a sample size of 155 plots of 0.1 hectare (Ha) was taken using preliminary survey at 95% confidence interval and 10% allowable error. The data for tourism services was collected from owners of all the hotels, 100 tourists and key informants of the area at 10% sampling intensity on pretested questionnaire for twenty years period (1997-2017). Results showed that Miandam valley has carbon stock worth US$ 16,306,000 while the value of eco-tourism was US$ 1,578,458 on annual basis. The results also showed that trend of tourism has drastically declined after the 9/11 incident for foreigners and locals and the situation was further deteriorated during the era of Talibanization or militancy from 2008-2011. This study recommends implementation of PES strategy at the rate of 5%, thus a total of US$ 78,922 can be earned from eco-tourism and carbon crediting in the study area annually, which could play important role in sustainable forest management.

Validity of the Fisher Community Knowledge-Based Economic Valuation of the Local Ecosystem for Oyster Farming: A Case Study in Japan

The importance of local knowledge as a relevant information resource for ecosystem conditions has recently been the focus of sustainable ecosystem management. However, the accuracy of economic evaluation based on local knowledge regarding ecosystems has not yet been discussed, despite most activities in human society, including ecological conservation, being monetarily mediated. This study reports the correspondence between the economic value estimated by the fisher community and the analyzed environmental factors in the marine areas sectioned for oyster farming in Japan. At the study site, community-agreed usage fees for the area sections showed a gradient from the inner to the outer part of the bay. Our numerical modeling showed that the gradient of the economic value correlated with oyster feeding efficiency, indicating that a better location for feeding was empirically evaluated at a high price by the local fisher community. This suggests that the economic evaluation based on the local knowledge was biologically reasonable and could be a reliable information source for the aim of the area use in the study site.

The Ecosystem Services and Green Infrastructure: A Systematic Review and the Gap of Economic Valuation

This study was conducted to determine the trends at the intersection of studies made on green infrastructure and ecosystem services, which have frequently become preferred in establishing urban−green space relationships in global research. Green-related concepts have frequently been used from past to present in order to neutralise the increasing pressures on urban dynamics resulting from rapid urbanisation. Green corridor, green belt, green structure, and green finger/hand concepts have been used to provide recreational opportunities, protect nature, and keep urban sprawl under control. For the last decade, however, in addition to the traditional green concepts, green infrastructure (GI) and ecosystem services (ES) have been preferred in contemporary urban planning, as they enable the integration of the ecological concerns of the landscape and the socio-political perspective. The aim of this study is to detect the trends of the green infrastructure and ecosystem services association, and to reveal these trends in the common area with the bibliometric mapping method. The economic concept and its analysing use at the intersection of green infrastructure and ecosystem services were explored with VOSviewer using the Scopus® database. Furthermore, the number of documents, which initially began with around 39,719 studies, was reduced by filtering through systematic reviews, to only three documents that met the economic valuation criteria. In this way, a lack of economic analyses, creating a serious research gap within the framework of green infrastructure and ecosystem services, was quantitatively determined.

Expert Demand for Consumer Sleep Technology Features and Wearable Devices

Global demand for sleep-tracking wearables, or consumer sleep technologies (CSTs), is steadily increasing. CST marketing campaigns often feature a scientific component, but the scientific relevancy and monetary value of CST features within the sleep research community remains unquantified. Sleep medicine experts were recruited through social media and nonprobability sampling techniques to complete a survey identifying sleep metrics and device features that are most desirable to the scientific community. A hypothetical purchase task (HPT) estimated economic valuation for devices with different features by price. Forty-six (N=46) respondents with an average of 10±6 years’ experience conducting research in real-world settings completed the online survey. Total sleep time was ranked as the most important measure of sleep followed by objective sleep quality while sleep architecture/depth and diagnostic information were ranked as least important. Experts preferred wrist-worn devices that could reliably determine sleep episodes as short as 20 minutes. Economic value was greater for hypothetical devices with longer battery life. These data set a precedent to determine how scientific relevance of a product impacts the potential market value of a CST device. This is the first known attempt to establish consensus opinion or economic valuation for scientifically-desirable CST features and metrics using expert elicitation.

ECONOMIC VALUATION OF MANGROVE FOREST IN TONGAS DISTRICT, PROBOLINGGO REGENCY, EAST JAVA

It is a literature review study and was undertaken from 1 December to 15 December 2021. This research aims to identifying the economic value of mangrove forest in Tongas District, Problonggo Regency, East Java. The object being researched was the mangrove forest in Tongas District. The study conducted by objectifying mangrove wood as furniture and other materials, while the mangrove ecosystem is a place to maintain the hydrological cycle and quality, as well as a tourist attraction. The economic valuation will be given from the prices in the marketplaces including the online one. The result of this research showed that the yearly benefits of the ecosystem of mangrove area at Tongas District can be grouped into: (1) direct benefit of IDR 6.638.421; (2) indirect benefits of IDR 3.651.710.094.700; and (3) optional benefits of IDR 325.000. With the total value is IDR. 3.651.717.058.121 per year. With indirect values occupy the highest. So, it can be said, if the role of Mangrove forests as environmental providers is very high. It indicates if there is high need to protect the forest.