This document summarizes key points from a presentation about the economic benefits of protected areas. It finds that protected areas provide significant economic benefits, including benefits from water purification, climate regulation, food security, tourism, and employment. Globally, the estimated annual benefits of protected areas exceed $4 trillion, far outweighing the estimated $45 billion in annual costs. Studies at national and local levels also regularly find that the economic benefits of protected areas are higher than the costs. Communicating these economic values is important for protecting biodiversity and sustainably financing protected area networks.

1. Adding Value through Protected Areas
Patrick ten Brink
TEEB for Policy Makers Co-ordinator
Head of Brussels Office
Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP )
building on presentation by
Marianne Kettunen IEEP Coordinator of TEEB Ch8: Protected Areas
and on work by
with Berghöfer, A., Bruner, A., Conner, N., Dudley, N., Ervin, J.,
Gidda, S. B., Mulongoy, K. J., Pabon, L., Vakrou, A. et al
International conference
"Integration of the ecosystem services in the economy NIS"
28-29 March 2011, settlement Dubrovsky, Moscow Region
1

2. TEEB and Protected Areas

3. Protected Areas
Protected areas, regarded as a safe haven for nature’s
jewels, are central to global efforts to conserve biodiversity.
There are already over 120,000 designated protected areas
covering around 12.9% of the Earth’s land surface.
Marine protected areas still cover 6.3% of territorial seas and
0.5% of the high seas - but they are also increasing rapidly in
number and area.
- IUCN and UNEP-WCMC 2010 –
- Objective is to

4. The value of protected areas:
Benefits – costs – benefits vs. costs
© M. Kettun

5. Benefits from protected areas: water
• 1/3 of the world’s 100 largest
cities draw a large part of their
drinking water from PAs.
• PAs & forests purify water for NY
city = US$ 6 billion (total) savings
in water treatment costs
• Venezuela’s national PA system
prevents sedimentation that
would reduce farm earnings by
around US$ 3.5 million/year.
Dudley and Stolton 2003, Pabon-Zamora et al. 2009

6. Benefits from protected areas:
climate regulation
• Mitigation: 15% of global
terrestrial carbon stock is
contained in PAs
• Adaptation: PAs can reduce
climate change induced risks
of landslides, floods and
storms by stabilising soil,
providing space for
floodwaters to disperse,
blocking storm surges.
Campbell et al. 2008

7. Benefits from protected areas: food security
In situ conservation of crop wild relatives provides fresh crop
breeding material & helps to maintain food security
© Map: Conservation Magazine 2008 (9/4), Pictures: www.buyorganic.com.au, www.preparednesspro. wordpress.com/2009/04/, http://upload.wikimedia.org

8. Benefits from protected areas: food security
Marine Protected Areas
(MPAs) can support the
recovery of fish stocks.
A review of 112 studies in 80 MPAs: fish
populations, size & biomass all
dramatically increased inside reserves,
allowing spill-over to nearby fishing
grounds. (Halpern 2003)
Note: Need to address
short-term costs of
restricted access before
long-term benefits arise

9. Benefits from protected areas: employment
• Bolivia - PA tourism generates over 20,000 jobs,
indirectly supporting over 100,000 people.
• New Zealand (the west coast of South Island) – in 2004 PAs
provided 15% of total jobs and created 10% of total
spending in the region.
• Finland: Visitor spending in national parks supports local
employment by creating 893 person-years of
employment.
• Wales: PAs support nearly 12,000 jobs, produce a total
income of approximately € 250 million and generate € 300
million in GDP.
Butcher Partners 2005, Pabon-Zamora et al. 2009, Metsahallitus & Metla 2009, National Trust 2006

10. Benefits from protected areas: tourism
• Germany: National park Wattenmeer in Germany is
responsible of around 23 per cent of total tourists in the
region, with associated gross economic income of over
EUR 100 million in 2003 (Neidlein & Walser 2005).
• France: Annual income of Parc du Mecantour amounts to
roughly € 3.8 million per year (Credoc 2008)
• Finland: Due to visitor spending, 1 EUR investment in
national parks & key recreational areas provides 20 EUR
return (Metsahallitus & Metla 2009).

11. Costs related to protected areas
• PA management costs
• Loss of access to resources
• Foregone opportunities
• Human-wildlife conflict
• Displacement
http://www.sacred-destinations.com

12. Globally & nationally: benefits > costs
• Globally - PA network covering 15% of the land and 30% of
the sea: costs ~US$ 45 billion / year vs. benefits from the
ecosystems of ~US$ 4.4 trillion / year (Balmford et al. 2005)
• Brazil’s Amazon - benefits from ecosystems within PAs
draw three times more money into the state economy than
the most likely alternative use (extensive cattle ranching)
(Amend et al. 2007)
• Scotland - ecosystems protected by Natura 2000 sites
provide public three times more benefits than associated
costs (Jacobs 2004)

13. Before Designation as protected area
designation as
protected area
Policy On Additional benefits
from designation,
management and
investment
Risk of degradation and
loss of value of services
without protected area
Policy Off
… Ecological services that
would have remained
without protected area
Time
Cost of management,
Opportunity Costs implementation,
Costs investment, control

14. Globally & nationally: benefits > costs
Benefits of conservation / sustainable use higher
than benefits of land convertion !

15. Leuser National Park on Sumatra, Indonesia
Distribution of ecosystem benefits What is “best” depends on who you are –
understanding who wins and who stands
to lose in decisions is paramount.
Local
community
“best option”
Logging
industry “best
option”
Sources: van Beuk ering, P.J.H., H.S.J. Cesar, M.A. Janssen (2003). Economic valuation of the Leuser National Park on Sumatra, Indonesia. Ecological
Economics 44, pp 43-62. and van Beuk ering, P.J.H., H.S.J. Cesar, M.A. Janssen (2002). Economic valuation of the Leuser Ecosystem in Sumatra. In:

16. Summary
 PAs, designated for biodiversity values, offer economic benefits
 These economic benefits can be significantly larger than the
costs
 Some benefits real market, some in due course real (e.g. carbon
values/markets), others wellbeing/welfare values
 Public and private values, incentives and interests may differ
 Need for public policy to protect key biodiversity and invest in
PAs
 One immediate priority is marine protected areas (MPAs).
 Another priority is sustainable financing.
 Critical for both is communicating the value of nature – intrinsic
and the value for society/economy.

17. Thank you
TEEB Reports available on http://www.teebweb.org/
The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity in National and International Policy Making and other TEEB books
available on Earthscan
and follow us on http://twitter.com/TEEB4ME & http://www.facebook.com/TEEB4me
Patrick ten Brink, ptenbrink@ieep.eu
Marianne Kettunen, Mkettunen@ieep.eu
IEEP is an independent, not-for-profit institute dedicated to the analysis, understanding and
promotion of policies for a sustainable environment.
www.ieep.eu
The Manual of European Environmental Policy
http://www.europeanenvironmentalpolicy.eu/

18. Contribution to Governance solutions -
Understanding the value of nature
TEEB reports and TEEB Books
TEEB Interim Climate Issues TEEB for Policy
TEEB Foundations Book announcement:
Report (May 2008) Update (Sept. 2009) Makers (Nov 2009)
(Oct. 2010) The Economics of Ecosystems and
Biodiversity in National and International
Policy Making now available from Earthscan
TEEB for Business TEEB for Local TEEB Synthesis
(July 2010) Policy (Sept. 2010) (Oct. 2010)
Edited By Pushpam Kumar (Univ. of Liverpool)
'A landmark study on one of the most pressing
problems facing society, balancing economic growth
and ecological protection to achieve a sustainable
future.‘
Simon Levin, Moffett Professor of Biology,
Department of Ecology and Ev olution Behav iour,
Princeton Univ ersity , USA
Edited By Patrick ten Brink (Institute for European environmental Policy, IEEP)
'This work is a landmark. It shows not only that we have been extraordinarily wasteful,
destructive and inefficient in our treatment of the natural environment but also how careful
analysis and measurement can help us change our ways towards a more productive and
responsible relationship with our environment. It provides a fundamental contribution which
TEEB Reports: http://www.teebweb.org/ shows how careful attention to ecosystems and biodiversity can help guide our response to the
two defining challenges of our century: managing climate change and overcoming poverty.‘
Summaries (in range of languages) and chapters
Professor Nicholas Stern, London School of Economics