Uncovering the Hidden Harvest: Valuation Methods for Woodland and Forest Resources

by Bruce M. Campbell (Editor)

Overview

Forests and woodlands provide an enormous range of goods and services to society, from timber and firewood to medicinal plants, watershed protection, destinations for tourists and sacred sites. Only when these are understood and valued can forests and their resources be properly managed and conserved. This work shows how the complicated network of benefits can be untangled and sets out the different approaches needed to value them. It covers the analysis of plant-based markets, non-market valuation and decision frameworks such as cost-benefit analysis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781853838095
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/01/2001
Series:	People and Plants International Conservation
Edition description:	1
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Bruce Cambell is an ecologist in the Research Division of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Indonesia.

Table of Contents

Towards Understanding the Role of Forests in Rural Livelihoods * Quantitative Methods for Estimating the Economic * Value of Resource Use to Rural Households * Understanding Local and Regional Markets for Forests Products * An Introduction to Approaches and Issues for Measuring Non-market Values in Developing Economics * Economic Decision-making Frameworks for Considering Resource Values: Procedures, Perils and Promise * Participatory Methods for Exploring Livelihood Values Derived from Forests: Potential and Limitations * Searching for Synthesis: Integrating Economic Perspectives with those from Other Disciplines * Expanding our Conceptual and Methodological Understanding of the Role of Trees and Forests in Rural Livelihoods * References * Index

Editorial Reviews

Uncovering the Hidden Harvest" is a practical handbook about helping local peoples in undeveloped countries understand the values of forests and forest conservation. This book is part of the invaluable "People and Plants Conservation Series, " which is being supported by the World Wildlife Fund, UNESCO, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Having recently traveled to parts of the world (Nepal and Ghana where forest resources are used very primitively for cooking and heating, this reviewer found this book extremely useful in putting into words what he had surmised. The editors have pulled together a wonderful set of practical and usable chapters that cover economic values, rural markets, nonmarket values, and participatory and synthesis methods for integrating conservation into thinking about forest resource values. This book should be required reading for anyone promoting wise use of forest resources in developing countries, especially for Peace Corp volunteers. All levels.
—CHOICE

D. F. Karnosky

Directed at non-economists working in the context of the developing world, eight chapters provide an overview of methods that may be used to assess the economic importance of forests to household livelihoods. Chapters discuss the proper assessment of the full range of environmental goods used by households, describe market operations in rural markets for forest goods, look at non-market valuation such as welfare measures, and present variants of cost-benefit analysis that incorporate both market and non-market valuations. The potential and limitations of tools drawn from participatory rural appraisal (PRA) are discussed, and the authors conclude that PRA is good for setting context, but fails to provide good quantitative data or monetary values. Finally, suggestions of synthesizing interdisciplinary research are presented and non-valuation approaches are assessed as a step towards a systems analysis that goes beyond economics. The book is distributed by Stylus. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)