A "Delphi Exercise" as a Tool in Amazon Rainforest Valuation

The Amazon rainforest, the world's largest and most biodiverse, represents a global public good of which 15 percent has already been lost. The worldwide value of preserving the remaining forest is today unknown. A "Delphi" exercise was conducted involving more than 200 environmental valuation experts from 36 countries, who were asked to predict the outcome of a survey to elicit willingness to pay for Amazon forest preservation among their own countries' populations. Expert judgments of average willingness-to-pay levels, per household per year, to fund a plan to protect all of the current Amazon rainforest up to 2050, range from $4 to $36 in 12 Asian countries, to near $100 in Canada, Germany, and Norway, with other high-income countries in between. Somewhat lower willingness-to-pay values were found for a less strict plan that allows a 12 percent further rainforest area reduction. The elasticity of experts' willingness-to-pay assessments with respect to own-country per capita income is slightly below but not significantly different from unity when results are pooled across countries and income is adjusted for purchasing power parity.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Strand, Jon, Carson, Richard T., Navrud, Stale, Ortiz-Bobea, Ariel, Vincent, Jeffrey
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper biblioteca
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank Group, Washington, DC 2014-12
Subjects:	AIR, AIR POLLUTION, AMAZON BASIN, AMAZON FOREST, AMAZON RAINFOREST, AMAZONIAN RAINFOREST, AMPHIBIANS, ANIMAL, ANIMAL SPECIES, ANIMALS, BELIEFS, BENEFIT ANALYSIS, BIODIVERSITY, BIOMASS, BIRDS, BUSINESS AS USUAL SCENARIO, CALCULATION, CARBON, CARBON DIOXIDE, CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS, CARBON EMISSIONS, CARBON SEQUESTRATION, CARBON SINK, CARBON STORAGE, CARBON VALUES, CATTLE, CLIMATE, CO, COLLABORATION, COMPLEXITY, CONTINGENT VALUATION, CONTINGENT VALUATION METHOD, COST ANALYSIS, CULTURAL HERITAGE, DAMAGES, DECISION-MAKING, DEFORESTATION, DEFORESTATION RATES, DENSE FOREST, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DISCOUNT RATE, DISCUSSION, DISCUSSIONS, ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS, ECONOMETRICS, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMICS, ECONOMISTS, ECOSYSTEM, ELASTICITIES, ELASTICITY, EMPIRICAL STUDIES, ENDANGERED SPECIES, ENERGY POLICY, ENVIRONMENTAL, ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION, ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS, ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMISTS, ENVIRONMENTAL GOODS, ENVIRONMENTAL VALUATION, ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES, EXISTENCE VALUE, EXPLORATION, EXTERNALITY, EXTINCTION, FOREST AREA, FOREST COVER, FOREST LOSS, FOREST LOSSES, FOREST PROTECTION, GDP, GDP PER CAPITA, GLOBAL ECONOMY, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, HEDONIC PRICING, IDEA, IDEAS, INCOME LEVELS, INCOME TAXES, ISSUES, LAND ECONOMICS, LEADING, LEARNING, LOGS, MAMMAL SPECIES, MAMMALS, MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES, NATIONAL INCOME, NATIONAL PARKS, NON-USE VALUES, OXYGEN, PASSIVE USE, PER CAPITA INCOME, PER CAPITA INCOMES, POLLUTION, POPULATION SURVEY, POPULATION SURVEYS, PP, PRACTITIONERS, PUBLIC GOOD, PUBLIC GOODS, PURCHASING POWER, RAIN, RATE OF DEFORESTATION, RAW DATA, SOCIAL COSTS, SPECIES OF PLANTS, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS, SURVEY INSTRUMENT, THINKING, TIMBER, TIMBER EXTRACTION, TREES, TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS, TROPICAL RAINFORESTS, VARIETY, WILLINGNESS TO PAY, WTP,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/12/23072549/delphi-exercise-tool-amazon-rainforest-valuation http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21139
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