In this paper we show how cost-benefit analysis can be used as a decision support mechanism for the location of new (urban) forest land, starting from the multifunctional role of these new forests. We start with a simple presentation of the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) technique. Key features of...

This paper analyses current and alternative afforestation policy instruments in Flanders. First we select forest sites that maximize net social benefits given a constraint on the total area of new forests and then we select policy instruments that yield this optimal combination of sites. For...

For the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, governments of annex I countries need to develop strategies and policies for greenhouse gas reduction. Land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) offer CO2 emission reduction opportunities both home and abroad. Selection of effective forestry...

This paper analyses the current Flemish afforestation policy and shows that this policy is likely to be non-optimal and can be improved. An important step in improving the afforestation policy in Flanders is the selection of the optimal location of a cluster of new forests as a whole. The...

This paper is concerned with the issue of how to introduce monetary valuation into public decision-making. This issue is closely related to introducing rational procedures into public decision-making (Pearce, 2001). All public decision-making involves choice. To economists, rational choice means...

This paper looks for the optimal location of new forests in a suburban area under area constraints. The GIS-based methodology takes into account timber, hunting, carbon sequestration, non-use and recreation benefits and opportunity costs of converting agricultural land, as well as planting and...

This paper looks at the optimal location of new forests in a suburban region under area constraints. The GIS-based methodology takes into account use benefits such as timber, hunting, carbon sequestration and recreation, non-use benefits (both bequest and existence values), opportunity costs of...