Dead planet, living planet

THE FINANCIAL BENEFITS OF ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION – GREEN ECONOMY

An analysis of 89 major ecosystem restoration projects worldwide concluded that ecologi- cal restoration increased provision of biodiversity and ecosystem services increased by 44 and 25%, respectively (Benayas et al ., 2009). Increases in ecosystem services and biodiver- sity were positively related. In a survey of managers of 317 river restoration projects in the US, nearly two-thirds believed the projects to be completely successful. At the same time, a series of investigations have shown extraordinary high willingness to pay and support for restoration in certain public questionnaires, up to 78% of the interviewees, suggesting high awareness and low risk for these investments in terms of public feedback (Brander et al ., 2006; Cao et al ., 2009; Dehghani et al ., 2010; Sodhi et al ., 2010).

Table 4: Estimates of costs and benefits of restoration projects in different biomes

Benefit/cost ratio Ratio

Internal rate of return % 7%

Net present value of benefits over 40 years USD/ha 1 ,166,000 935,400 86,900 171,300 69,700 148,700

Est. annual benefits from restoration (avg. scenario)

Typical cost of resto- ration (high scenario)

Biome/ Ecosystem

USD/ha 129,200 73,900 4,290 14,200

USD/ha 542,500 232,700 2,880 33,000

2,8 4.4 26.4 5.4 15.5 37.3 10.3 28.4 75.1

Coral reefs Coastal mangroves inland wetlands Lakes/rivers tropical forests other forests Woodland/shrubland Grasslands

11% 40% 12% 27% 50% 20% 42% 79%

3,800 7,000 1,620 1,571 1,010

4,000 3,450 2,390

26,300 32,180 22,600

990 260

Source: TEEB, 2009. Please note that there is substatial uncertainty with regard to these numbers. Updated figures are expected to be available by 2010/11.

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