7th GEF Biennial International Waters Conference in Barbados Presentation on Valuation of Marine Ecosystem Goods & Services in the Caribbean by Patrick Debels and Laverne Walker

1. Caribbean Large Marine
Ecosystem Project (CLME)
Valuation of Marine Ecosystem Goods & Services in the
Caribbean: A review and framework for future work
Patrick Debels
Regional Coordinator
PatrickD@unops.org
Laverne Walker
Senior Project Officer
LaverneW@unops.org

2. UNDP/GEF
CLME:
Sustainable Management of the
Shared Living Marine Resources of the
Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems
Foundational capacity building project (co-)financed by
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY
(GEF4)
GEF Contribution: aprox. US$ 7 million
Start Date: May 2009
End Date: Feb 2014

3. CLME+ = 2 LMEs: the CARIBBEAN LME and the NORTH BRAZIL SHELF LME
26 countries + >10 dependent territories

4. CLME+ : 3 distinct ecosystem types support the most important fisheries & biodiversity
1. REEFS & associated habitats
2. PELAGIC ecosystem
3. CONTINENTAL SHELF ecosystem

5. CLME TDAs:
3 ecosystems, 3+1* (key) problems
Degradation
* “Climate proofing” of actions: robustness + contributions to enhancing resilience

6. ROOT CAUSES OF THE 3 CLME+ ISSUES

7. sLMR governance:
“running” through the Policy Cycle
DECISION
MAKING
ANALYSIS AND
ADVICE: DSS
DATA &
INFORMATION
REVIEW AND
EVALUATION &
MONITORING
IMPLEMENTATION
7

8. The development of the CLME SAP
PILOT PROJECTS
Review of ES G&S
valuation work in the
Caribbean
CASE STUDIES
(CERMES & partners)
TRANSBOUNDARY
DIAGNOSTIC
ASSESSMENTS
GOVERNANCE ANALYSIS
IMS-REMP
PROTOTYPE
CLME
STRATEGIC
ACTION
PROGRAMME
(SAP)

9. BASIS FOR THIS PRESENTATION:
• Schumann, P. 2011. Wilmington, NC: University of North
Carolina Wilmington (CERMES report for CLME RGF case study)
“The Valuation of Marine Ecosystem Goods
and Services in the Caribbean”
• Kushner, B., R. Waite, M. Jungwiwattanaporn, and L. Burke,
2012 (Working Paper. Washington DC: World Resource
Institute)
“Influence of Coastal Economic Valuations in
the Caribbean: Enabling Conditions and
Lessons Learnt”

10. Status of Marine Valuations in the
CLME: Coral Reef Ecosystem
 Ecosystem with the most information
 Reefs in the Caribbean: 19,000 km2
 Net present value: US$ 49.5 billion
 Total Annual Net Benefits: US$ 1.85 billion
 Fisheries:
 Coastal Protection:
 Tourism/recreation:
 Biodiversity value:
US$
US$
US$
US$
391 million
720 million
663 million
79 million

11. Status of Marine Valuations in the CLME:
Pelagic Ecosystem
 Limited valuation studies available
 Existing valuations: focus on provisioning services
 commercial fisheries
 Exceptions: analyses of cultural services (tourism &
recreation) - sports fishing & whale watching:



billfishing - Puerto Rico:
US$ 44 million
whalewatching - Dominican Rep. (1999): US$ 5.2 M
shark diving - Bahamas (2007): US$ 78 million

12. Status of Marine Valuations in the CLME:
Continental Shelf Ecosystem
 Received the least attention
 Limited information available
 A few studies exist
 commercial shelf fisheries (e.g. shrimp)

13. Analysis of Economic Valuations Studies
within the CLME
 Economic valuations studies have been limited to:
o
nearshore recreation opportunities (protected areas)
 Reef valuations: far more attention than other ecosystem types
o
reefs in MPAs received particular attention (recreation &
tourism)
 Caribbean small-scale fishers: highly dependent on reefs for
livelihoods
 Pelagic & Continental Shelf ES: valuation work = modest
compared to the near shore zones
o
market values of capture fisheries, offshore recreational
opportunities

14. Summary
• Economic valuation information available on the
Caribbean has increased over the last 30yrs
• Over 200 economic studies on
monetary value of marine ecosystems exist (MESP)
Yet, the impact of these studies
on policy or decision making regarding
ecosystem/marine resources management
are not very clear

15. Analysis of impacts of
Economic Valuations Studies
in the CLME
 Valuation studies increased awareness about economic
importance of marine ecosystems
 Very few valuation studies which have directly influenced
policy, legislation or investment
o St. Maarten study helped establishing first national park
o Belize’s : legal ban on bottom trawling
o Bonaire study > visitor fee setting: sustainably financed MPA
 Valuation to guide decision making: to be done on a scale
appropriate to the policy question
 WRI’s Coastal Capital series: most impact on raising awareness
of the economic values associated with coastal and marine
resources

16. Good governance
& high transparency
Strong local partnership &
stakeholder engagement
Opportunities for
revenue raising
KEY ELEMENTS
for
SUCCESFUL
ECONOMIC
VALUATION
application and
influence
Effective communications & access
to decision makers and/or media
A clear policy question
Local demand for
valuation
A clear presentation of methods,
assumptions & limitation

17. MARKET PRICE
APPROACH
MARKET PRICE
APPROACH
COST (DAMAGE)
AVOIDANCE
APPROACH
REVEALED
PREFERENCE
METHOD
REPLACEMENT
COST
APPROACH
HEDONIC
PRICING
METHOD
CONTINGENT
VALUATION
METHOD
BENEFITS
TRANSFER
APPROACH
TRAVEL COST
METHOD
ECONOMIC
IMPACT
ANALYSIS
META
ANALYSIS
PRODUCTION
FUNCTION
APPROACH

18. Policy Cycle
DECISION
MAKING
ANALYSIS AND
ADVICE: DSS
DATA &
INFORMATION
REVIEW AND
EVALUATION &
MONITORING
IMPLEMENTATION
18

19. STRATEGY 2 (Sust. Fisheries):
MANDATES
DA
I
DAI
RAE
WECAFC
IMP
RA
E
AAA
AAA
SICA/
OSPESCA
IM
P
DM
DAI
D
M
IMP
DM
DAI
AAA
GCFI
IMP
AAA
CRFM
DAI
RAE
CRFM
RAE
DM
RAE
AAA
OECS
IMP
DM
DM = Decision-Making
IMP = Implementation RAE = Revision & Evaluation
DAI = Data & Informatiion AAA = Analysis & Advice

20. Gaps within the CLME
 Economic values associated with the pelagic and
continental shelf ecosystems remain largely
unspecified
 Valuation work continues to be absent from a
number of countries (e.g. Central America)
 Contribution of reefs & other coastal
ecosystems to fisheries production, climate
regulation and habitat provision largely
undocumented

21. Gaps within the CLME
 Economic impacts related to overfishing largely
unexplored:




National economies?
Employment?
Food security?
Tourism?
 Valuing the cultural and food security benefits of
small-scale fisheries
 Valuing the research and education contributions
of marine ecosystems

22. CLME+ SAP: The Strategic Action Programme for
the Sustainable Managment of the Shared
Living Marine Resources of the Caribbean and
North Brazil Shelf LME
• High-level endorsed 10-year Strategic Action Programme
• Provides a road-map towards sustainable living marine
resources management
• Identifies priority Strategies and Actions within the CLME+
• Advance the implementation of EBM/EAF within the CLME+

23. adequately valued
DETAILED VISION
STATEMENT

24. CLME SAP:
6 main STRATEGIES
and 4 sub-strategies
S1 – Protection of the
Marine Environment
S2 – Sustainable Fisheries
S3 – Inter-sectoral Coordination
S4 – EBM, Reef Ecosystems
S4a Spiny Lobster Fisheries
S4b Queen Conch Fisheries
S5 – EAF, Pelagic Ecosystem
S5a Flyingfish Fisheries
S4b Large Pelagics Fisheries
S6 – EBM/EAF, Continental Shelf

26. The “umbrella” SAP for the CLME
PILOT PROJECTS
CASE STUDIES
SAP “UMBRELLA”
TRANSBOUNDARY
DIAGNOSTIC
ASSESSMENTS
GOVERNANCE ANALYSIS
IMS-REMP
PROTOTYPE
PROJECT / PROGRAMME COORDINATION & OVERSIGHT
Exisitng Projects
New Projects
Implementation of new
projects under the SAP
supported by the GEF

27. Way Forward
 Obtain better understanding of key conditions for
valuation influence on decision-makers
 Standardized approaches to monitor and evaluate the
influence of valuations
 Identify and build the capacity of “in-country” champions that
understand and can communicate with policy makers on
economic valuation
 Coordinated approach towards future work on valuation in the
region among countries and agencies
 Identify mechanisms to allow for an increased interest in
valuations for the pelagic and continental shelf ecosystems

28. Thank you
www.clmeproject.org
CLME Project Coordination Unit
Cartagena, Colombia
info@clmeproject.org