Economic valuation techniques for environmental goods and services can contribute to decisions regarding the sustainable use and preservation of natural resources. Several valuation techniques have been developed based on neoclassical economics. However, when markets fail these techniques are not applicable. An alternative approach that is less dependent on pervasive markets comes from the school of biophysical economics. This approach is based on the energy theory. According to this theory, the embodied energy of the ecosystem is estimated and a money value is assigned to it. This thesis uses a variation of a biophysical technique for the economic valuation of the above-ground biomass of a Colombian High-Andean forest. The biomass or physical organization and the diversity component of the contributory value of the forest are considered by the biomass technique. However, this technique fails to measure the ecological services component of this kind of value.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/291466 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Carrizosa, Santiago, 1964- |
| Contributors | King, David A. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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