PROBLEMS AND POSSIBILITIES OF ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF AGRO-ECOLOGICAL RESOURCES

Abstract

The economy based on renewable natural resources, a specific and heterogeneous group of resources (agricultural land, biological reserves, energy flows and ecosystemic externalities) includes a number of aspects for rational use and evaluation of external effects of the natural heritage. Rent is a key economic category, which was originally linked to the phenomenon of proceeds achieved on the basis of property rights relating to natural factors. Exploitation of natural resources creates considerable external effects, that are representing the social dimension of costs, which should be appropriately tackled as one of the most important practical problems regarding their rational use. This paper points out different theoretical-analytical approaches to the optimalization of renewable natural resources. It specifically considers possible methods of evaluation of agroecological resources and external effects of ecosystem services (direct ones, based on hypothetical markets, and indirect ones, based on derived demand) Consideration starts from the aimed position that the identification and quantification of rents and ecosystemic externalities, represents the substantial foundation and precondition for efficient policy and protection measures, as well as rational and sustainable use of natural resources.

Keywords

• renewable natural resources, land rent, ecosystemic externalities, evaluation methods, sustainable use.