Basis for a valuation of the Polish Exclusive Economic Zone of the Baltic Sea: Rationale and quest for tools

Abstract

This paper summarises current knowledge of goods and servicesin the Polish Exclusive Economic Zone of the Baltic Sea ecosystem.It reviews specific properties of the Baltic that could be usedfor economic valuation. Goods and services range from the familiarresources of fish and minerals, which were valued with the ProductivityMethod, to less obvious services provided by the ecosystem suchas biofiltration in coastal sands, valued with either the ReplacementCost or Damage Cost Avoided methods. Disservices to the marineecosystem are also considered, e.g. erosion and coastal flooding,including the costs of planned mitigating measures. This paperemphasises the importance of using valuation methods to helpmake better-educated decisions for the sustainability of theBaltic Sea.

Keywords

• Baltic
• environmental economics
• ecosystem goods and services
• renewable resources