Valuation of nature: Economic contribution of periurban protected areas in Guangzhou Baiyun Mountain Scenic Area

Periurban protected areas containing mountains, forests and lakes could provide a broad spectrum of ecosystem services such as biodiversity, fresh air, clean water, scenic landscape, recreation, amenity, and flood and erosion control, which contribute notably to the non-material and non-commodity wealth of a city. The economic valuation of such sites and their ecosystem services could contribute to the formulation of policies and management decisions of protected areas, with a view to maximizing the benefits to the community, minimizing deleterious impacts and justifying expenditures. This study evaluated the economic contribution of Baiyun Mountain Scenic Area, a large periurban protected area with a high nature content located in the fringe of the built-up area of Guangzhou city. A combination of travel cost, replacement cost and direct market approaches was applied to assess the economic value of the site. The analysis yielded a total value of RMB77.83 million per annum, including recreational opportunity, timber production, water conservation, erosion control, soil fertilization, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, oxygen release and air pollutant removal. Some implications to improve the management of periurban protected areas to better serve the urban agglomeration were explored. Copyright © 2006 World Conservation Union (IUCN).