ABSTRACT

This chapter provides a general description of benefits and consideration of economic valuation of those benefits that can be derived from coastal habitats that store and sequester carbon (C): seagrass meadows and wetlands, which include marshes and mangrove forests. It presents examples of important ecosystem services (ESs) and their valuation. Before assessing an economic value to these ESs at different spatial scales, it is critical to obtain accurate estimates of mangrove biomass and C stocks for mangrove ecotypes. During the 19th century, coastal wetlands often were considered a nuisance environment and perceived as competing against other human uses that serve immediate economic needs. Several attempts have been made to calculate economic values for these ESs globally, but economic valuation studies have estimated more credible results when focused on a smaller area where marginal values of some of these ESs can be calculated.