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Is ecosystem restoration worth the effort? The rehabilitation of a Finnish river affects recreational ecosystem services

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  • Polizzi, Cecilia
  • Simonetto, Matteo
  • Barausse, Alberto
  • Chaniotou, Ninetta
  • Känkänen, Riina
  • Keränen, Silja
  • Manzardo, Alessandro
  • Mustajärvi, Kaisa
  • Palmeri, Luca
  • Scipioni, Antonio

Abstract

The need to assess the societal consequences of human actions impacting the environment has led to the concept of “ecosystem services” (ESS), which can be valued in socio-economic terms to communicate the ecologically-based costs and benefits of management choices. Quantifying the usually-neglected value of ESS should lead to better awareness of the societal importance of ecosystems and more balanced decision-making. We examine the case of the rehabilitation project of the River Pajakkajoki (Finland), aiming to improve conditions for fish spawning and increase the recreational attractiveness of natural areas along the river. We investigated how the rehabilitation changed ESS provision and the value of such change, focusing on recreational ESS due to data availability. We conducted an economic valuation of recreational ESS based on questionnaires administered to both locals and non-locals, analyzed by combining revealed and stated preference methods. We show that the rehabilitation generated great benefits: the estimated increase in recreational ESS value was 40.0–144.7 €/person/year, with slight differences between residents and non-residents. When scaling up this value to all the visitors of the area, the benefits of river restoration were estimated to compensate for the project costs in approximately 3–10 years, justifying investments in restoration from a societal perspective.

Suggested Citation

  • Polizzi, Cecilia & Simonetto, Matteo & Barausse, Alberto & Chaniotou, Ninetta & Känkänen, Riina & Keränen, Silja & Manzardo, Alessandro & Mustajärvi, Kaisa & Palmeri, Luca & Scipioni, Antonio, 2015. "Is ecosystem restoration worth the effort? The rehabilitation of a Finnish river affects recreational ecosystem services," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 14(C), pages 158-169.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoser:v:14:y:2015:i:c:p:158-169
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2015.01.001
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    2. Ivana Lampartová & Kateřina Blažková & Kristina Somerlíková, 2016. "Public Awareness of the Relation between Nature-friendly Watercourse Modifications and Recreation in Cities," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 64(4), pages 1337-1344.
    3. André Golgher & Marcos Callisto & Robert Hughes, 2023. "Improved Ecosystem Services and Environmental Gentrification after Rehabilitating Brazilian Urban Streams," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Sigwela, Ayanda & Elbakidze, Marine & Powell, Mike & Angelstam, Per, 2017. "Defining core areas of ecological infrastructure to secure rural livelihoods in South Africa," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 27(PB), pages 272-280.
    5. Hackbart, Vivian C.S. & de Lima, Guilherme T.N.P. & dos Santos, Rozely F., 2017. "Theory and practice of water ecosystem services valuation: Where are we going?," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 218-227.
    6. Rosa, Josianne Claudia Sales & Geneletti, Davide & Morrison-Saunders, Angus & Sánchez, Luis Enrique & Hughes, Michael, 2020. "To what extent can mine rehabilitation restore recreational use of forest land? Learning from 50 years of practice in southwest Australia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    7. Desheng Wu & Shuzhen Chen, 2017. "Benchmarking Discount Rate in Natural Resource Damage Assessment with Risk Aversion," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(8), pages 1522-1531, August.
    8. Jiake Shen & Yuncai Wang & Xiaolu Guo, 2021. "Identifying and Setting Linear Water Space Priorities in Co-Urbanized Area Based on Multiple Levels and Multiple Ecosystem Services," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-27, July.
    9. Grechi, Laura & Franco, Antonio & Palmeri, Luca & Pivato, Alberto & Barausse, Alberto, 2016. "An ecosystem model of the lower Po river for use in ecological risk assessment of xenobiotics," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 332(C), pages 42-58.
    10. Tammi, Ilpo & Mustajärvi, Kaisa & Rasinmäki, Jussi, 2017. "Integrating spatial valuation of ecosystem services into regional planning and development," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 26(PB), pages 329-344.

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