Valuation of wildlife resources

Abstract

Helliwell D. R. (1969) Valuation of wildlife resources, Reg. Studies 3, 1–7. The recognizable benefits afforded by wildlife are listed as production, potential production, education, and recreation. These are further divided into a total of seven categories for the purpose of evaluation. Conventional cost-benefit analysis is regarded as being too tedious and difficult a process to be widely and frequently used. An attempt is made, therefore, to give a system for comparing one wildlife resource with another; the whole system being correlated to monetary values at a later stage. The principal parameters of assessment are the scarcity of the resource, its accessibility, and the diversity of species within it. Each of the seven categories of benefit is dealt with separately, to give a total for the resource as a whole. Possible applications of the method are cited.