Wetland Valuation Framework and Guidelines

TECHNICAL ANNEXES to

“Wetland Valuation Framework and Guidelines”

(version Dec 23, 2004)

By Rudolf de Groot1 () and Mishka Stuip2 ()

1) Env. Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen University (PO Box 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands)

2) Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD, P.O. Box 570, 6700AN, Wageningen, The Netherlands)

To implement the Guidelines for Wetland Valuation presented in a separate Framework document, this Technical Annex has been added with more detailed information on valuation methods and data sources.

Furthermore, on-line support will be provided through which gives access to existing data bases. literature and case studies. It also provides a discussion ‘platform’ for exchange of information and experiences on valuation of wetland functions.

Set-up and contents of this Technical Annex:

Page nr
Annex 1 / Step 1 - Methods for Policy Analysis / 2
Annex 2 / Step 2 - Methods for Stakeholder Analysis / 4
Annex 3 / Step 3 - Methods for identification and quantification of wetland
services / 7
Annex 4 / Step 4 - Methods for valuation of wetland services / 10
Annex 5 / Application of Valuation in Decision Making for Wise Use of Wetlands: some case studies / 15
Annex 6 / Websites / 19

:

Annex 1. STEP 1: Policy Analysis

Analysis of policy processes and management objectives is essential to set the stage for a discussion of why the valuation is necessary, and what kind of valuation is needed (eg. to assess the impact of past or ongoing interventions, to analyse trade-offs of planned wetland uses (= partial valuation) or to determine the Total Value of the intact wetland).

During this stage of the valuation process, it should also be determined how values can be generated that are relevant to policy and management decisions.

Table 1 gives an overview of main policy analysis methods, how they can be applied and where to find further information.

Table 1.Overview of methods for policy analysis

Method /

Description

/

How to Apply

/ Website reference/Literature
Document analysis / Analysis of al types of documents drafted that could affect the valuation / Search out relevant documents, e.g. through Google or library and read these. Dissemination of available literature (studies, reports, policy guidelines) / Libraries, Town Hall, Research Organisations, NGO’s
Interviews / Interviews with stakeholders relevant to the policies (e.g. policy makers, policy executors, those affected by policy) / Select stakeholders, prepare interview questions, set date and location, ensure plenty of time, come prepared on background/history/running issues. / Purdue Univ. Writing Lab presen-tation in interview techniques: owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops.pp/interviewing.ppt
General guidelines for conducting interviews:
library/evaluatn/
intrview.htm
policy mapping
(flow diagrams) / Mapping out (listing of) all relevant policies, and inserting connection lines to clarify which policies affect each other. / Policy analysis /
coastlearn/website/
policy_analysis/
PolicyAnalysis_intro.html
policy ranking / Rating policies in level of importance to the valuation / Policy analysis /
coastlearn/website/
policy_analysis/
PolicyAnalysis_intro.html
visioning / “Imagening” the necessary policy priorities, to elicit livelihood priorities; etc. / With the aid of a facilitator who talks you through the visioning process /
citizens-handbook/2_16_
visioning.html
Power analysis / Analysis of the power structure (e.g. Policy makers, powerful stakeholders who can affect policy, who is affected?) / Analysis of the stakeholders and assessing their power and potetial /
Resource Tenure Maps / Indicating rights to, and ownership of land or resources / Case studies and step-by-step mapping is shown for a clear concept on how to go about it. / Guijt, I. And F. Hinchcliffe (eds) 1998. Participatory Valuation of Wild Resources: an overview of the Hidden Harvest methodology. IIED, London.
Social maps / Mapping of the social structure of all relevant stakeholders (listing them and inserting connection lines; who is communicating with who) / Social mapping can be used to present information on layout, infrastructure, demography, ethno-linguistic groups, wealth, power, interrelations and other issues. /
social_mapping.htm
Mobility Maps / Showing seasonal movement, migration trends, etc; / Actual mobility maps with clear explanations on how to accurately translate stakeholders mobility into maps / Guijt, I. And F. Hinchcliffe (eds) 1998. Participatory Valuation of Wild Resources: an overview of the Hidden Harvest methodology. IIED, London.
Strategy flow diagrams / To map out strategies and their direction for sustainable livelihood and increasing social capital /
sla/background/english/
institution.ppt
Institution-al analysis / Listing of all relevant institutions and their level of involvement and connectedness / Institutional analysis /
sla/background/english/
institution.ppt
Stakehol-der analysis / Analysis of stakeholders who potentially could be involved, affected by, or affect the valuation / See Annex 2 for details
Actor network analysis / Analysis of all possible influencing factors that affect the actions of the valuation and the influence of the valuation on possible factors that could be affected. / Analysis and comparison of the language used by the different actors. E.g. scientists and farmers. Farmers see weeds and reeds in a ditch while a scientist sees aquatic habitats containing a rich assemblage of habitats (Burgess, 2000) / J. Burgess, J. Clark & C.M. Harrison (2000) Ecol. Econ. 35, 119-132: Special issue, the Values of Wetlands: Landscape and Institutional Perspectives. Knowledge in action:
preference ranking / Identification and listing in order of importance of preferred livelihood strategies. / Preference ranking. Also called direct matrix ranking, an exercise in which people identify what they do and do not value about a class of objects (eg. tree species or cooking fuel types). /
timelines / Using a timeline for the policy context can give an idea of the historical creation of policy to current use. The motivation for a policy becomes clear. / Eg. to analyse policy or livelihood changes over time / Guijt, I. And F. Hinchcliffe (eds) 1998. Participatory Valuation of Wild Resources: an overview of the Hidden Harvest methodology. IIED, London.
Livelihood analysis / Analysis of livelihoods: livelihood assets (human, social, natural, physical and financial capital) and livelihood outcomes of policy/management options. /

Some methodological issues on Policy Analysis

There are some issues at hand that one must keep in mind when conducting policy analysis. Policy is highly political; policy can shift when local, regional or national governing bodies change their political stance after elections. This means policy has the potential of being only temporary. Policy and policy making are also macro, meso and micro processes, meaning that regional policy makers can have a defining influence concerning local policy. The Institutions and organisations involved in policy and policy making are not uniform. Each organisation has its own culture and language, which may not always bring the message across clearly to stakeholders or to other organisations and institutions. One must also keep in mind that policy affects different (stakeholder) groups in different ways

ANNEX 2STEP 2: STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS

Early in the process, the main stakeholders should be identified because in almost all steps of the valuation procedure, stakeholder-involvement is essential: i.e. to determine the main policy and management objectives, to identify the main relevant goods and services and assess their value, and to discuss trade-offs involved in wetland use.

There are basically three steps involved in stakeholder analysis: identification, prioritization and involvement of stakeholders. A number of methods that can be applied in each step are given in Table 2.

Table 2Methods used in stakeholder analysis

Can be used for:
Method / Selecting Stakeholders / Prioritising Stakeholders / Involving Stakeholders
Data Review / X / X
Observation / X / X
Interviews, Questionnaires / X / X / X
Resource tenure & ownership maps / X / X / X
Diagrams, Maps / X / X
Ranking / X
Stories, Portraits / X / X
Workshops / X / X

2.1Stakeholder identification and selection

The first step in stakeholder analysis is to identify people, groups and organizations who are important to involve in a valuation (see Table 3). Several criteria can be used such as type of influence: people who are affected by the policy that results from the valuation, as well as those who affect the policy, or spatial distribution: stakeholders can be identified from a macro to micro level (i.e. global and international wider society, National, Regional, Local off-site, and Local on-site) (Brown et al., 2001)

Table 3.Main methods to be used in this step of the procedure

Methods / Description / References
Data Review / Review of existing data on potential stakeholders, and/or the issue at hand that the stakeholder analysis is needed for. / City Hall, local NGO’s, involved organisations and institutions
Observation / Obervation of potential stakeholders, interaction of stakeholders /
Interviews, Questionnaires / For accurate determination for the selection of stakeholders. Method to gauge level of involvement, power structure, level of influence, etc. / Purdue Univ. Writing Lab presentation in interview techniques: owl.english.
purdue.edu/workshops/
pp/interviewing.ppt
General guidelines for conducting interviews:
library/evaluatn/intrview.htm
Resource tenure & ownership maps / Case studies and actual step-by-step mapping is shown for a clear concept on how to go about it. / Guijt, I. And F. Hinchcliffe (eds) 1998. Participatory Valuation of Wild Resources: an overview of the Hidden Harvest methodology. IIED, London.
Diagrams, Maps / Actual mobility maps with clear explanations on how to accurately translate stakeholders mobility into maps / Guijt, I. And F. Hinchcliffe (eds) 1998. Participatory Valuation of Wild Resources: an overview of the Hidden Harvest methodology. IIED, London.

Stakeholders can also identify themselves by asking other stakeholders who else they think are relevant and need to be considered. This identification process will unearth a range of individuals, groups, NGOs, other organisations and government departments.

A distinction should be made between stakeholders that identify themselves as a cohesive group (e.g. companies and NGO’s) and unorganised ‘groups’ such as small businesses and households.

There is no ‘standard set’ of stakeholders relevant to wetland valuation and stakeholders identified for one valuation project are not necessarily important to another project. Stakeholders change over time as well, so stakeholders previously identified must be reconsidered rather than immediately assumed to still be relevant to the process(Brown et al., 2001)

2.2Prioritising stakeholders

Not all stakeholders will turn out to be relevant to the valuation at hand. Therefore, stakeholders need to be categorized according to their level of influence and their importance to the valuation. Besides categorizing the stakeholders into different levels of importance, it is necessary to look at the level of involvement of the stakeholders. Certain stakeholders may need only to be notified of the outcome of the valuation, whilst others should be fully and directly involved in the process.

Stakeholders can be categorized according to their level of influence and their importance. The relative levels of influence and importance determines whether a stakeholder is a primary, secondary or external stakeholder. Importance refers to the degree to which the stakeholder is considered a focus of a decision to be made. Influence refers to the level of power a stakeholder has to control the outcome of a decision. Influence is dictated by stakeholders’ control of, or access to, power and resources. Influential stakeholders, (lobbying groups, wealthy landowners etc) often are already engaged in the process or have access to it.

Fig. 1Prioritising stakeholders based on influence and importance

(Source:

Based on these criteria, three types of stakeholders can be distinguished:

(a) Primary stakeholders have high importance to the process. They frequently perceive themselves as having low influence

(b) Secondary stakeholders can be both important and influential, they may be directly involved in the process, and are integral to succes. They can in some circumstances be highly influential (for example governmental implementing agencies).

(c) External stakeholders can also be influential but tend to have low importance for particular coastal zone management activities. External stakeholders can be influential to outcomes.

2.3Involving stakeholders

Finally, it is essential to identify what form of participation is both desirable and feasible for the different actors in each stage and activity of the valuation process (see Table 4). This will depend largely on the objectives of the valuation. These objectives, in turn, will have many implications for the research design. If it is to be a data gathering exercise, then rapidity will probably win over pursuit of local analytical processes. If it is to be an exercise leading to local action, then building local analysis and competence will need to be prioritised over quick research outcomes.

Table 4Involving Stakeholders

Level of Involve-ment / Method of involvement / Application
Top down / Public awareness campaigns, Government monitoring and enforcement. / Policies and programs are issued and implemented. Participants must behave in a prescribed way.
Consul-tation / Consultation meetings and consideration of some or all recommendations. Involvement of other groups in implementation and monitoring may or may not be sought. / Plans and policies are formulated and presented to stakeholders for comments and reactions.
Partici-pation / Public awareness campaigns, affiliation with NGOs and community groups. Joint government and community monitoring and enforcement. / Stakeholder groups are encouraged to get involved (voluntary or with market incentives) in the valuation activities.
Collabo-ration / Public awareness, consultations at the initial stage and community assistance with monitoring and enforcement / Stakeholder groups are involved in the design and operation of programs and projects but still under overall direction and leadership.
Partner-ship / Stakeholders share in formulating, raising public commitment, funding, monitoring and enforcement / Together, stakeholder groups design, implement and monitor plans, policies, programs and projects on equal footing.
Autono-mous / Stakeholder groups may or may not coordinate and share information. / Stakeholder groups individually design and implement programs and projects.

For additional elaboration on the above mentioned levels of participation see:

ESCARP Virtual Conference (

And Brown, K., E. Tompkins and W.N. Adger, 2001: Trade-off Analysis for Participatory Coastal Zone Decision-Making. Overseas Development Group, Norwich, U.K

Participatory methods imply certain obligations, and one must be aware of the following

(IIED 1997):

• Active involvement of people in research and analysis means that all participants should have ownership of the results. This implies a requirement for effective and timely feedback, the sharing of reports and the recognition of contributions.
• The use of interactive, participatory methods may generate enthusiasm and excitement and raise expectations. This implies that plans for follow-up must always be part of these activities. Rooting research work within local structures, seeking alliances with development actors on the ground and finding a means to pursue findings all require prior planning and a commitment that stretches both before and beyond the research study.
• Open and frank discussions about research use can raise latent resource-related conflicts that then need to be addressed. Do researchers have the skills to deal with some of these conflicts?
• Finally, active local involvement in research has costs as well as the well-recognized benefits. These costs include the real costs of time out of busy lives and material costs in terms of accommodation and food provided, as well as the potential costs political and social disputes generated by the intervention. These costs must be recognized and compensated in locally appropriate ways.

For further reading on Stakeholder analysis methods:

• Local Perspectives on Forest Values in Papua New Guinea: The Scope for Participatory Methods (2002) Grieg-Gran, M.,I. Guijt and B. Peutalo, IIED, London.
• Trade-off Analysis for Participatory Coastal Zone Decision-making (2001). Brown, K., E Tompkins, W. N. Adger O.D.G (Overseas Development Group) Norwich,
• Participatory Valuation of Wild Resources: an overview of the Hidden harvest methodology (1998)

Guijt, I. and Hinchcliffe, F. (eds.), IIED, London

• An Introduction to Rapid Rural Appraisal For Agricultural Development (1988). McCracken, J.A., J.N. Pretty & G.R. Conway IIED, London.

ANNEX 3STEP 3: INVENTORY OF WETLAND SERVICES

3.1Identification and selection of wetland services

Depending on the purpose of the valuation (see Step 1), the involved stakeholders and their interests (Step 2), and the ecological and socio-economic setting, different services will be relevant in the valuation process. Table 5 gives a checklist of all services that can possibly be attributed to wetland ecosystems. Selection of the services to be included in the valuation should be done in close consultation with the involved stakeholders.

Table 5.Wetland services * (not final yet)

GOODS & SERVICES / SHORT DESCRIPTION AND SOME EXAMPLES / WETLAND CHARACTERISTICS (processes and components providing the service) (to be completed by Dolf)
PROVISIONING / Provision of resources and space
1 / Water supply / Provision of water for consumptive use (e.g. drinking, irrigation and industrial use)
2 / Food / - Fish, game, fruits, etc. (from hunting and gathering)
- Food-production through pastoralism and small-scale subsistence farming & aquaculture
3 / Raw materials / Harvesting and collection of resources for building & construction (eg. timber), manufacturing (e.g. skins, bark, leaves), fodder, forage and fertilizer (e.g. krill, leaves, litter) and mineral resources (eg. sand)
4 / Fuel and energy / - Use of wetlands for collecting of fuelwood, organic matter, etc
- Use of wetlands for production of tidal- or other abiotic energy sources
5 / Genetic resources / - Use of genetic material from wild species in, for example, cultivation
6 / Medicinal resources / - Use of natural biochemicals for development of pharmaceuticals
- Use of wildlife as chemical models, tools, test- and essay organisms
7 / Ornamental resources / Use of wetland wildlife and resources for fashion, handicraft, jewelry, pets, decoration & souvenirs (e.g. furs, feathers, ivory, orchids, butterflies, aquarium fish, shells, precious stones, etc.)
8 / Transport medium / Transportation by rivers and other waterways
REGULATING / Maintenance of environmental quality
9 / Climate regulation / - Influence of wetlands on micro- and macro climate / - land cover characteristics
- biol. mediated processes (e.g. DMS-prod.)
10 / Disturbance prevention / - Storm protection
- Flood prevention and water flow regulation / - water-holding capacity
- vegetation structure
- etc
11 / Water regulation / - Drainage and natural irrigation
- Groundwater recharge / - land cover characteristics
- water-holding capacity
12 / Soil retention / - Erosion prevention, shoreline stabilisation
- Sediment retention
13 / Waste treatment / - Pollution control/water quality maintenance
14 / Nursery function / - importance of wetlands as reproduction habitat for species that are harvested, or have other commercial uses, elsewhere
CULTURAL & AMENITY / Providing opportunities for cognitive development
15 / Aesthetic information / Enjoyment of wetland scenery (scenic roads, housing , etc.)
16 / Recreation and tourism / Travel to wetland ecosystems for eco-tourism and (recreational) nature study
17 / Inspirational services / Use of wetlands as motive in books, film, painting, folklore, national symbols, architecture, advertising, etc
18 / Spiritual information / Importance of wetlands in religious expressions (eg. sacred groves or species)
19 / Cultural heritage / Importance of wetlands in cultural history and identity (i.e. heritage value)
20 / Science & Education / Use of wetlands for school excursions, etc. and scientific research
SUPPORTING / Maintenance of essential ecological processes and life support systems
21 / Gas regulation / Role of wetlands in gas-exchange between water and atmosphere
22 / Soil formation / Role of wetlands in maintaining soil-fertility (eg. in floodplains)
23 / Nutrient regulation / Role of wetlands in nutrient retention
24 / Habitat function / Role of wetlands in maintenance of biological & genetic diversity

* Adapted from, among others, Costanza et al., (1997), de Groot et al., (2002) and MA (2003)