The Economic Value of Landscape Aesthetics in Albufera Natural Park Through the Analytic Multicriteria Valuation Method

The Economic Value of Landscape Aesthetics in Albufera Natural Park Through the Analytic Multicriteria Valuation Method

VICENTE ESTRUCH-GUITART MARÍA VALLÉS-PLANELLS 

School of Agricultural Engineering and Environment, Department of Economy and Social Sciences, Group of International Economics and Development, Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain

School of Agricultural Engineering and Environment, Department of Animal Science, Centre of Aquaculture and Environment, Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain

Page: 
281-302
|
DOI: 
https://doi.org/10.2495/DNE-V12-N3-281-302
Received: 
N/A
| |
Accepted: 
N/A
| | Citation

OPEN ACCESS

Abstract: 

The effective definition of public intervention goals and resource allocation for natural resource man-agement requires decision makers to understand the monetary values of the full range of goods and services provided by landscapes, in other words, their Total Economic Value (TEV). Aesthetic enjoy-ment (AE) can be considered as part of such TEV of landscapes. For the estimation of the economic value of AE in Albufera Natural Park (Valencia, Spain), this paper applies the Analytic Multicriteria Valuation Method (AMUVAM). It is a combination of two established techniques: analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and discount cash flow (DCF). The economic value of non-market benefits under AMU-VAM is obtained indirectly, by comparing the relative degrees of importance attached to the different components of TEV. In this way, not only does it estimate a monetary value of AE but also its impor-tance relative to TEV. Results express that AE represents 7% of the TEV in Albufera Natural Park and 24% of the EV in Albufera Natural Park (€176 million). Results reveal distinct patterns in the valuation of TEV and existence value (EV). In this way, together with the average, a range of values which show the different sensitivities of society is provided. The comparison of the TEV obtained for Albufera Natural Park with previous studies conducted on wetlands suggests its similarity in scale.

Keywords: 

analytical hierarchy process, economic value, landscape valuation, multicriteria decision making, wetland.

  References

[1] Termorshuizen, J.W. & Opdam P., Landscape services as a bridge between landscape ecology and sustainable development. Landscape Ecology, 24, pp. 1037–1052, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-008-9314-8

[2] De Groot, R., Function-analysis and valuation as a tool to assess land use conflicts in planning for sustainable, multi-functional landscapes. Landscape and Urban Planning, 75(3–4), pp. 175–186, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2005.02.016

[3] Antrop, M., Sevenant, M., Tagliaferro, C., Van Eetvelde, V. & Witlox, F., Setting a framework for valuing the multifunctional landscape and its multiple perceptions. The Economic Value of Landscapes, ed. W. Heijman & M. van der Heide, Routledge, pp. 23–52, 2012. 

[4] Swanwick, C., Hanley, N. & Termansen, M., Scoping study on Agricultural Landscape Evaluation. Final Report to DEFRA, University of Leeds, The University Of Sheffield & University of Stirling, 2007.

[5] Daniel, T.C., Wither scenic beauty? Visual landscape quality assessment in the 21st century. Landscape and Urban Planning, 54(1–4), pp. 267–281, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(01)00141-4

[6] Daniel, T.C. & Boster, R.S., Measuring Landscape Aesthetics: the Scenic Beauty Esti-mation Method, ASDA For. Ser., RMFRES, Colorado, USA, Research Paper RM 167, 1976.

[7] Bourasa, S.C., The Aesthetics of Landscape, Belhaven Press: London, 1991.

[8] Kaplan, R. & Kaplan, S., The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective, ­Cambridge University Press, New York, 1989.

[9] Lothian, A., Landscape and the philosophy of aesthetics: is landscape quality inherent in the landscape or in the eye of the beholder? Landscape and Urban Planning, 44(4), pp. 177–198, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(99)00019-5

[10] Steinitz, C., Visual evaluation models: some complicating questions regarding memo-rable scenes. Landscape and Urban Planning, 54, pp. 283–287, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(01)00142-6

[11] Arriaza, M., Canas-Ortega, J.F., Canas-Madueno, J.A. & Ruiz-Aviles, P., Assessing the visual quality of rural landscapes. Landscape and Urban Planning, 69, pp. 115–125, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2003.10.029

[12] Kangas, J., Laasonen, L. & Pukkala, T., A method for estimating forest landowner’s landscape preferences. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research, 8, pp. 408–417, 1993. https://doi.org/10.1080/02827589309382787

[13] Fontana, V., Radtke, A., Fedrigotti, V.B., Tappeiner, U., Tasser, E., Zerbe, S. & Buchholz,­ T., Comparing land-use alternatives: using the ecosystem services concept to define a multi-criteria decision analysis. Ecological Economics, 93, pp. 128–136, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2013.05.007

[14] Pukkala, T., Nuutinen, T. & Kangas, J., Integrating scenic and recreational amenities into numerical forest planning. Landscape and Urban Planning, 32, pp. 185–195, 1995. https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-2046(94)00195-9

[15] Fines, K.D., Landscape evaluation: a research project in East Sussex. Regional Studies, 2(1), pp. 41–55, 1968. https://doi.org/10.1080/09595236800185041

[16] Price, C., Landscape economics at dawn: an eye-witness account. Landscape Research, 33(3), pp. 263–280, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1080/01426390802045897

[17] Price, C., Landscape Economics. MacMillan Press: London, 1978. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-03747-6

[18] Oueslati, W. & Salanié, J., Landscape valuation and planning. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 54(1), pp. 1–6, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2010.505771

[19] Bergstron, J.C., Stoll, J.R., Titre, J.P. & Wright V.L., Economic value of wetlands-based recreation. Ecological Economics, 2, 129–147, 1990. https://doi.org/10.1016/0921-8009(90)90004-E

[20] Kong, F., Yin, H. & Nakagoshi, N., Using GIS and landscape metrics in the hedonic price modeling of the amenity value of urban green space: a case study in Jinan City, China. Landscape and Urban Planning, 79, pp. 240–252, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2006.02.013

[21] Luttik, J., The value of trees, water and open space as reflected by house prices in the Netherlands. Landscape and Urban Planning, 48(3–4), pp. 161–167, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(00)00039-6

[22] Lange, E. & Schaeffer, P.V., A comment on the market value of a room with a view. Landscape and Urban Planning, 55, pp. 113–120, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(01)00148-7

[23] Hanley, N., Wright, M., Bullock, R.E., Simpson, I., Parsisson, D. & Crabtree, B., Contingent valuation versus choice experiments: estimating the benefits of environmentally sensitive areas in Scotland. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 49(1), pp. 1–15, 1998. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-9552.1998.tb01248.x

[24] Hynes, S., Campbell, D. & Howley, P., A holistic vs. an attribute-based approach to agri-environmental policy valuation: Do welfare estimates differ? Journal of Agricul-tural Economics, 62(2), pp. 305–329, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-9552.2010.00287.x

[25] Moran, D., The economic valuation of rural landscapes. SEERAD, Edinburg. Research Study AA211, 2005, available at http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/strategy/landscapes/ Annex.pdf (accessed 1 February 2013).

[26] Estruch-Guitart, V. & Vallés-Planells, M., The role of landscape aesthetics in the total economic value of landscape: a case study of albufera natural park. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, 192, pp. 1–12, 2015. https://doi.org/10.2495/eco150201

[27] Aznar, J. & Estruch, V., Environmental assets valuation through multicriteria methods. Implementation in the valuation of Alto Tajo Natural Park (Valoración de activos ambien-tales mediante métodos multicriterio. Aplicación a la valoración del Parque Natural del Alto Tajo). Economía Agraria y Recursos Naturales, 7(13), pp. 107–126, 2007 (in Spanish). https://doi.org/10.7201/earn.2007.13.06

[28] Aznar, J., Estruch, V. & Vallés, M., Valuation of environmental assets by the multicri-teria AMUVAM method and its application to the Pego-Oliva wetland. Environmental Engineering and Management Journal, 13(3), 1535–1547, 2014.

[29] Saaty, T., The Analytic Hierarchy Process: Planning, Priority Setting, Resource Alloca-tion, RWS Publications: Pittsburgh, 1980.

[30] Boucher, T.O. & MacStravic, E.L., Multiattribute evaluation within a present value framework and its relation to the analytic hierarchy process. The Engineering Econo-mist, 37(1), 1–32, 1991. https://doi.org/10.1080/00137919108903055

[31] Chow, T.E. & Sadler, R., The consensus of local stakeholders and outside experts in suitability modeling for future camp development. Landscape and Urban Planning, 94, pp. 9–19, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2009.07.013

[32] Kangas, J. 1993. A multiattribute preference model for evaluating the reforestation chain alternatives of a forest stand. Forest Ecology and Management, 59, pp. 271–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-1127(93)90007-A

[33] Maroto, C., Segura, M., Ginestar, C., Uriol, J. & Segura, B., Sustainable forest manage-ment in a Mediterranean region: social preferences. Forest Systems, 22(3), pp. 546–448, 2013. https://doi.org/10.5424/fs/2013223-04135

[34] IVSC, International Valuation Standards 2001, International Valuation Standards Com-mittee: London, 2001.

[35] Swanwick, C., Hanley, N. & Termansen, M., Scoping study on agricultural landscape evaluation. Final Report to DEFRA, University of Leeds, The University Of Sheffield & University of Stirling, 2007.

[36] Costanza, R., d’Arge, R., de Groot, R., Farber, S., Grasso, M., Hannon, B., Limburg, K., Naeem, S., O’Neill, R.V., Paruelo, J., Raskin, R.G., Sutton, P. & Van Den Belt, M., The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature, 387, pp. 253–260, 1997. https://doi.org/10.1038/387253a0

[37] De Groot, R., Wilson, M.A. & Boumans, R.M.J., A typology for the classification, description and valuation of ecosystem functions, goods and services. Ecological Eco-nomics, 41(3), pp. 393–408, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(02)00089-7

[38] Barbier, E.B., Acreman, M.C. & Knowler, D., Economic valuation of wetlands: A guide for policy makers and planners. Ramsar Convention Bureau, Department of Environ-mental Economics and Environmental Management, University Of York, Institute of Hydrology, IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Gland, Switzerland, 1997.

[39] Sanchis, C., The construction of a landscape icon. The Albufera of Valencia (1889–1939) (La construcció d´una icona paisatgística. L´Albufera de València (1889–1939)). SAITABI, 57, pp. 241–260, 2007 [in Catalan].

[40] Sanchis, C., Regadiu i Canvi Ambiental a l´Albufera de València (Irrigation and Envi-ronmental Change in Albufera de Valencia), Universitat de València: Valencia, 2010 [in Catalan].

[41] Bueno, R. & Jiménez, R., Crónicas de arroz, mosquitos y paludismo en España: el caso de la provincia de Valencia (s. XVIII-XX) (Chronicles of rice, mosquitoes and malaria in Spain: the case of the Province of Valencia (18th–20th centuries). Hispania, vol. LXX, 236, pp. 687–708, 2010 [in Spanish]. https://doi.org/10.3989/hispania.2010.v70.i236.329

[42] Rosselló, V.M., L´Albufera de València, L´Abadia de Montserrat, Barcelona, 1995 [in Catalan].

[43] Usaquén Perilla, O.L., García Gómez, A., Alvárez Díaz, C. & Revilla Cortezón, J.A., Methodology to assess sustainable management of water resources in coastal lagoons with agricultural uses: an application to the Albufera lagoon of Valencia (Eastern Spain). Ecological Indicators, 13, pp. 129–143, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.05.019

[44] FPIA, Informe de evaluación intermedia del Programa de Desarrollo Rural de la Comu-nitat Valenciana 2007–2013 (PDR-CV), Fundación para la promoción de la ingeniería agronómica, pp. 131–132, 2011, available in http://www.magrama.gob.es/es/desar-rollo-rural/temas/programas-ue/periodo-de-programacion-2007–2013/seguimiento-y-evaluacion/evaluaciones_2010.aspx (1 July 2014)

[45] Barbier, E.B., Valuing environmental functions: tropical Wetlands. Land Economics, 70(2), pp. 133–173, 1994. https://doi.org/10.2307/3146319 

[46] MEA, Ecosystems and Human Well-Being. Synthesis, Island Press: Washington, DC: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005.

[47] Gomez-Limón, J.A. & Arriaza, M., What does society demands from rural areas? Evi-dence from Southern Spain. New Medit. A Mediterranean Journal of Economics, Agri-culture and Environment, 1, pp. 2–12, 2013.

[48] Champ, P.A., Boyle, K.J., Brown, T.C. (eds.), A Primer on Non-Market Valuation, Klu-wer Academic Publishers: Boston, 2003.

[49] De Groot, R.S., Stuip, M.A.M., Finlayson, C.M. & Davidson, N., Valuing wetlands: guidance for valuing the benefits derived from wetland ecosystem services, Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Gland, Switzerland & Secretariat of the Convention on Bio-logical Diversity, Montreal, Canada. Ramsar Technical Report No. 3/CBD Technical Series No. 27, 2006.

[50] Evans, D.J., Social discount rates for the European Union, Fifth Milan European Econ-omy Workshops, Milan, 2006.

[51] http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.CDRT.IN

[52] http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.KD

[53] http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?DataSetCode=TABLE_I5#

[54] http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?DataSetCode=TABLE_I4#

[55] Ramsey, F., A mathematical theory of saving. Economic Journal, 38, pp. 543–559, 1928.

[56] Fishburn, P.C., The Foundations of Expected Utility, Reidel, Dordrecht, Holland, 1982. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3329-8

[57] Keeney, R.L. & Raiffa, H., Decisions with Multiple Objectives: Preferences and Value Trade-Offs, Wiley: New York, 1993. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139174084

[58] Hoehn, J. & Randall, A., Too many proposals pass the benefit cost test. American Eco-nomic Review, 79(3), pp. 544–551, 1989.

[59] Adamowicz, W., Boxall, P., Williams, M. & Louviere, J., Stated preference approaches for measuring passive use values: choice experiments and contingent valuation. Ameri-can Journal of Agricultural Economics, 80(2), pp. 65–75, 1998. https://doi.org/10.2307/3180269

[60] Hanley, N., Wright, R. & Adamowicz, V., Using choice experiments to value the environment: design issues, current experience and future prospects. Environmental and Resource Economics, 11(3–4), pp. 413–428, 1998. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008287310583

[61] Colombo, S., Calatrava-Requena, J. & Hanley, N., Analysing the social benefits of soil conservation measures using stated preference methods. Ecological Economics, 58(4), pp. 850–861, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.09.010

[62] Mogas, J., Riera, P. & Bennett, J., A comparison of contingent valuation and choice modelling with second-order interactions. Journal of Forest Economics, 12(1), pp. 5–30, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfe.2005.11.001

[63] SSPS Inc., SPSS 16.0 Command Syntax Reference, SPSS Chicago, 2007.

[64] Azqueta Oyarzun, D., Introducción a la economía ambiental, 2nd edn., McGraw-Hill/ Interamericana de España: Madrid, 2007. 

[65] Boyer, T. & Polasky, S., Valuing urban wetlands: a review of non-market valuation stud-ies. Wetlands, 24(4), pp. 744–55, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1672/0277-5212(2004)024[0744:VUWARO]2.0.CO;2

[66] Esteban, E. & Dinar, A., Cooperative management of groundwater resources in the presence of environmental externalities. Environmental and Resource Economics, 54, pp. 443–469, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-012-9602-2

[67] Woodward, R.T. & Wui, Y., The economic value of wetland services: a meta-analysis. Ecological Economics, 37, pp. 257–270, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(00)00276-7

[68] Schuijt, K. & Brander, L., Living Waters: Conserving the Source of Life. The Economic Value of the World’s Wetlands, WWF, Gland (Switzerland), 2004.

[69] Brenner, J., Jiménez, J.A., Sardá, R. & Garola, A., An assessment of the non-market value of the ecosystem services provided by the Catalan coastal zone, Spain. Ocean and Coastal Management, 53, pp. 27–38, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2009.10.008