The Economics of Wilderness - Zoltan Kan

Soomaa NP © Arne Ader

Paanajärvi NP © Viktor Gritsuk

Zoltan KUN, Executive DirectorPAN Parks Foundation

THE ECONOMICS OF WILDERNESSPayment for Ecosystem Services vs Commercial Forestry

Paanajärvi NP ©Viktor Gritsuk

Who we are

• PAN Parks works to protect Europe’s wilderness, the continent’s most undisturbed areas of nature

• the first European-wide organisation focusing on the protection of wilderness areas

Fulufjallet NP © Vitantonio Dell’Orto

NO extractive use such as:•hunting•fishing•mining•logging•grazing•grass cutting•road and building constructionis allowed in wilderness

How to define wilderness?

Fulufjället NP © Vitantonio Dell’Orto/exuviaphoto.com

Peneda-Geres NP © Marcos Veiga

Archipelago NP © Janne Görling

Borjomi-Kharagauli NP © Konstantin Gabrichidze

Oulanka NP © Kimmo Salminen

Soomaa NP © Arne Ader

Wilderness Quality Index of Europe

• Based on GIS data sets (road density, population density, etc...)

• Management practice is not considered!

The European Wilderness Preservation System

Borjomi-Kharagauli NP © Kote Gabrichidze

The Economics of Wilderness

Why dealing with the economics of wilderness?

• the European Parliament calls on the Commission and Member States to co-operate with local non-governmental organisations to promote the value of wilderness (point 6);

Wilderness is not a priceless heritage for future generations!• Europeans are not valuing wilderness as much as they should!

Oulanka NP ©Michael Hennemann


Insert Braat and Ten Brink figure about the inkage between land use and level of ecosystem services

Rila NP © Nicolas Cegalerba


Making wilderness areas financially viable means seizing opportunities of emerging markets for ecosystem services• Payments for Ecosystem Services

Archipelago NP © Heidi Arponen

To protect wilderness we need to diversify incomes• payments for carbon offset• payments for water-related and nature disaster mitigation• peatbog restoration • payments for recreational services



Examples• Economic impact of Finnish National Parks• Wild Nephin managed by Coiltte• The valuation of Tatra, and Slovensky raj• Sveaskog Ecoparks

Oulanka NP ©Hannu Hautala


Economic impact of Finnish National Parks through visitation• 85 M EUR / year• 1,100 man-year• visitor related income in Oulanka NP 14,7 M EUR

http://www.metla.fi/julkaisut/workingpapers/2010/mwp149.pdf

Ireland

Mayo

Wild Nephin

Westport

Atlantic Ocean

Location


Type of value Low range Mid range High range

Individual use value

€145,000 €225,000 €528,000

Existence & bequest values

€270,000 €450,000 €1,056,000

Option values €225,000 €450,000 €1,056,000

Indirect values

Tourist income €75,000 €150,000 €225,000

Public Good Values


The Economics of WildernessTatra and Slovensky raj National Park• Conclusion: the smaller park with better management practice creates higher value

Reasonale mean value740,327 k EUR / year

No extractive use!


Sveaskog’s example• Ecoparks are large connected ecological landscapes• important outdoor pursuits forests, providing many opportunities for different activities• 36 ecoparks planned in Sweden

more information at http://www.sveaskog.se/en/forestry-and-environment/nature-conservation/eco-parks/

Annual land take in Europe between2000-2006 was over 111,000 ha/year

The size equal to Crete was covered by

concrete in 7 years (2000-2006)

The size equal to Crete was covered by

concrete in 7 years (2000-2006)

Our goal: 5% of Europe must be

wilderness

Our goal: 5% of Europe must be

wilderness

4% of Europe is covered by

art i f ic ial surface in 2006

4% of Europe is covered by

art i f ic ial surface in 2006

If increases with the current

trend, we wil l have 5% art if ic ial

surface by 2017

Archipelago NP © Seppo Keränen

The Mil l ion Project

To ensure guaranteed protection of 1 mil l ion hectares of wilderness

in Europe by 2015

Majella NP ©MNP

Building partnerships with protected areas• Making a commitment to resolve a major challenge

• Improving wilderness management in partner protected areas (biodiversity offsets)

• Biz & Biodiversity EU programme


Paanajärvi NP ©Viktor Gritsuk

We can protect (and still benefit from) the last pieces of Europe’s wilderness together!

Join us in The Mil l ion Project!

PAN Parks works to protect Europe’s wilderness, the continent’s most undisturbed areas of nature

www.panparks.org

The Economics of Wilderness - Zoltan Kan

Economy & Finance

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