Measurement of the Threatened Biodiversity Existence Value Output: Application of the Refined System of Environmental-Economic Accounting in the Pinus pinea Forests of Andalusia, Spain

Abstract

Are we able to determine the existence value output generated for society through the preservation of wild species threatened with extinction? In this article we defend the theory that the service of preserving threatened species with risk of extinction is an existence value output with a hidden transaction price if it can be established that there are consumer or state willingness to pay an additional tax above the government total cost to avoid an increase in one threatened species in relation to the number recorded at the opening of the accounting period. This output is estimated by adding the total cost and the additional consumer tax which the consumers state that they are willing to pay through a choice experiment survey. Our refined monetary System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (rSEEA) extends the existence value output concept and valuation principles recommended by the United Nations. In this paper, this rSEEA was applied to Pinus pinea forests in protected as well as non-protected areas of Andalusia, Spain in 2010. The results show that the net value added from protected areas is 40% higher than that from non-protected areas. It is incidental that the environmental benefits in both areas coincide.