Global valuation of ecosystem services: application to the Pantanal da Nhecolandia, Brazil

In Costanza et al.'s famous Nature paper [Costanza, R., d'Arge, R, de Groot, R, Farber, S., Grasso, M., Hannon, B., et al. The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 15 (387), 253-260.] a value for the world's ecosystem services is posited as a point of departure for further discussion. These calculations were re-estimated and qualitatively assessed in application to the Pantanal sub-region Nhecolandia. The original study was re-estimated to evaluate the sensitivity of the original study to more detailed and accurate data and to better understand the potential for the people of the Pantanal to benefit from environmental stewardship. Refocusing the analysis to the regional watershed level using locally derived data provided an opportunity to explore appropriate local policy alternatives and recognize regional biophysical heterogeneity which is largely impractical at the global, hemispheric or, perhaps, national scale. A value of more than US$15.5 billion, or US$5 million per resident was derived; an annual per hectare value of approximately 1/2 of Costanza et al.'s calculations. More biophysically diverse, but largely drier, regional conditions indicated by our data explain this discrepancy. Water supply and disturbance regulation contribute close to 2/3 of the total calculated value. Waste treatment, cultural value, and water regulation each contribute substantially (6-9%) to the total. Nutrient cycling, recreation, and habitat values play more minor roles (1.5-3%) in the total valuation. The concepts of imperfect substitutes and comparative advantage are applied within the broad category of natural capital in order to evaluate the potential of alternative economic development strategies for the region. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.