TY - JOUR

T1 - Economic valuation of Mangroves for comparison with commercial aquaculture in south Sulawesi, Indonesia

AU - Malik, Abdul

AU - Fensholt, Rasmus

AU - Mertz, Ole

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Mangroves are recognized as a provider of a variety of products and essential ecosystem services that contribute significantly to the livelihood of local communities. However, over the past decades, mangroves in many tropical areas including the Takalar district, South Sulawesi have degraded and decreased mainly due to conversion to aquaculture. Currently, little is known about the economic benefits of commercialization of aquaculture as compared to those derived from mangroves in the form of products and services. Here, we estimate the Total Economic Value (TEV) of mangrove benefits in order to compare it with the benefit value of commercial aquaculture. Market prices, replacement costs, benefit transfer value and Cost-Benefit Analyses (CBA) have been used for value determination and comparison. The results show that the per year TEV of mangroves in the study area (Takalar district, South Sulawesi) was in the range of 4370 thousands USD (kUSD) to 10,597 kUSD or 4 kUSD to 8 kUSD per hectare (the highest value contribution derived from the indirect use value (94%)), whereas commercial aquaculture had a net benefit value of 228 kUSD or 3 kUSD per hectare. In addition, the comparison of Net Present Value (NPV) between the benefit value of mangroves and that of commercial aquaculture revealed that conversion of mangroves into commercial aquaculture was not economically beneficial when the analysis was expanded to cover the costs of environmental and forest rehabilitation.

AB - Mangroves are recognized as a provider of a variety of products and essential ecosystem services that contribute significantly to the livelihood of local communities. However, over the past decades, mangroves in many tropical areas including the Takalar district, South Sulawesi have degraded and decreased mainly due to conversion to aquaculture. Currently, little is known about the economic benefits of commercialization of aquaculture as compared to those derived from mangroves in the form of products and services. Here, we estimate the Total Economic Value (TEV) of mangrove benefits in order to compare it with the benefit value of commercial aquaculture. Market prices, replacement costs, benefit transfer value and Cost-Benefit Analyses (CBA) have been used for value determination and comparison. The results show that the per year TEV of mangroves in the study area (Takalar district, South Sulawesi) was in the range of 4370 thousands USD (kUSD) to 10,597 kUSD or 4 kUSD to 8 kUSD per hectare (the highest value contribution derived from the indirect use value (94%)), whereas commercial aquaculture had a net benefit value of 228 kUSD or 3 kUSD per hectare. In addition, the comparison of Net Present Value (NPV) between the benefit value of mangroves and that of commercial aquaculture revealed that conversion of mangroves into commercial aquaculture was not economically beneficial when the analysis was expanded to cover the costs of environmental and forest rehabilitation.

KW - Commercial aquaculture

KW - Economic valuation

KW - Indonesia

KW - Mangroves

KW - South Sulawesi

U2 - 10.3390/f6093028

DO - 10.3390/f6093028

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:84946605851

VL - 6

SP - 3028

EP - 3044

JO - Forests

JF - Forests

SN - 1999-4907

IS - 9

ER -