Valuation of ecosystem services in a region: A review of the international experience

Abstract

The paper aims to investigate the international experience of valuation and identification of ecosystem services. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research includes the theory of value and the ecosystem approach. The authors apply the dialectical method, logical abstraction, comparative analysis, grouping method, and the method of analogies. To build the hierarchy of ecosystem services and determine the most important ones in relation to soil and forest ecosystems statistical methods are implemented. The paper presents the results of the analysis of the key projects on valuation of ecosystem services in terms of content, scale and adopted methods; the identification of the most often valuated ecosystem services; and refined classification of ecosystem services and method for their evaluation. The practical significance of the research lies in the improvement of the economic mechanism of the regulation of natural resources management, which is meant to mitigate the negative consequences of climate change, what eventually will increase the probability of attaining the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The research findings form the basis for further formulation of the methodological recommendations about valuation of the ecosystem services in different physical-geographical zones.