Perspectives on Valuation of Biodiversity

The economic value that biodiversity and ecosystems have is known to be very high. Despite this knowledge, we still find that there is large scale and significant loss of diversity of resources and ecosystems (CBD, 2010). This paper examines the economic significance of biological resources as relevant to various sectors, major drivers of loss of biodiversity and implications to human welfare. Through a case study approach of various methods used to value biological resources, the paper also shows that such methodologies get limited by information asymmetries, perceptional differences of different user groups and purposes for which valuations are undertaken. It also examines the various policy level initiatives that attempt to capture a true representation or "value" of biodiversity. The paper concludes with a call for developing more nuanced and multidisciplinary approaches while developing valuation methods.