The Socio-Economic Costs and Benefits of Coastal Habitat Rehabilitation and Creation

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the merits and limitations of using an economics based approach to assess and implement initiatives for coastal habitat rehabilitation and creation. A review of the literature indicates that habitat rehabilitation/creation costs vary widely between and within ecosystems. For coral reefs, costs range from US$ 10,000 to 6.5 million/hectare (ha);1 for mangroves US$ 3000–510,000/ha; for seagrasses US$ 9000–680,000/ha and for saltmarshes US$ 2000–160,000/ha. A review of the economic benefits derived from various coastal habitats based on a ‘Total Economic Value’ approach (i.e. accounting for direct and indirect uses, and ‘non-uses’) reveals that many thousands of US$ per hectare could ultimately accrue from their rehabilitation/creation. The paper concludes that despite its limitations, the ‘benefit-cost analysis’ framework can play an important role both in assessing the justification of coastal habitat rehabilitation/creation initiatives, and by helping to improve the overall effectiveness of such initiatives.