ABSTRACT
The economic value of forest goods and services is frequently ignored in market transactions and consequently undervalued in development strategies. Substantial scholar advancements in recent decades have brought a better understanding of forest functioning, its connection with other natural and human systems, and the development of alternative economic valuation techniques. Thus, our objective for this chapter is to discuss recent developments on the techniques for the economic valuation of forest goods and services and their monetary estimates. We based this chapter on the premise that protecting and properly managing forestland is paramount, and economic valuation is a viable and strong option for doing this. We frame our analysis on methodological aspects and also in the context of international 117socio-political agendas. We begin discussing the evolution of forests and forest valuation, and then detail the role of neoclassical economic theory for this valuation. Next, we describe economic frameworks that incorporate the valuation of ecosystem services. Finally, we provide some conclusions on the future of forest economics.
