TITLE:
Valuing ecological resources through stakeholder participation
AUTHORS:
George O. Rogers, Eric K. Bardenhagen
KEYWORDS:
Ecological Resource Valuation; Intrinsic Values; Place-Based Valuation; Natural Resources; Value-Space; Stake-Holder Participation
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ecology,
Vol.3 No.5,
August
13,
2013
ABSTRACT: This paper presents a pilot effort
to identify a methodology to more efficiently codify, quantify and illustrate
the intrinsic values associated with ecological resources as expressed by stakeholders.
Existing methodologies examine the value of ecological resources, but are often
criticized for their monetary focus. These
methods generally produce quasi-market values for non-market resources.
The natural and cultural resources associated with a national park are analyzed
in terms of the expressed values of active stakeholders to quantitatively
produce multiple dimensions of value for each resource relative to all others.
The resulting abstract and graphical value-space quantitatively reflects stakeholder
participation, reflects non-market intrinsic value, and proactively contributes
to environmental management and decision making.