We study the incorporation of ecosystem services in German water infrastructure planning exemplified by a projected deepening of the Lower Weser river channel. Therefore, we recalculate the project's benefit-cost ratio by integrating the monetary value of changes in different ecosystem services:...

Discounting future costs and benefits is a crucial yet contentious practice in the appraisal of long-term public projects with environmental consequences. The standard approach typically neglects that ecosystem services are not easily substitutable with manufactured goods and often exhibit...

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) has introduced economic principles for water resource management, including the environmental cost recovery on the basis of the polluter pays principle (PPP). Agriculture, as a potential driver of pressures on water bodies, can produce environmental costs....

The importance of ecosystem functions for humankind is well known. But only few attempts have been undertaken to estimate the economic value of these ecosystem services. In particular, indirect methods are rarely used, even though they are most suitable for the task. This discrepancy is because...

Understanding the economic value of nature and the services it provides to humanity has become increasingly important. In this paper we review the progress to date on both the necessary conceptual framework and empirical valuation studies required to bolster decision support systems targeted at...