Introduction

The loss of the world’s biological diversity is causing major concern worldwide. That concern is embodied, for example, in the Convention on Biological Diversity negotiated at Rio de Janeiro in 1992. But how important is biodiversity? And how can priorities for conservation be determined? This volume is concerned with one important approach to these questions: the economic approach. The central argument is that by ascribing economic value to biodiversity, more powerful, more practical arguments can be formulated for its conservation. The book reviews the economic approach and the available evidence on the economic value of biodiversity