The Valuation of Forest Ecological Services: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Forests have a significant impact on global ecosystem services. Deforestation continues to be one of the world’s biggest problems in terms of environmental degradation. There has been an ongoing debate pitting economic development versus environmental preservation, especially in developing countries. Forest valuation is the usual key to measure the cost-benefit of the forest before making a decision. In this research, a Meta-analysis was conducted using 155 observations from 47 different countries. The mean forest valuation of these observations is $US65.62 per hectare per 1000 person per year (in 2016). The OLS regression results found that forest use values,
methodology, and forest types by geographical latitude are statistically significant to forest value. Forest use values have more monetary value over non-use. The results when applied to forest valuation in Thailand, the predicted use value of the Thai evergreen forest conducted by the contingent valuation method is valued around $US23.94 per hectare per 1000 person per year (in 2016).