Payment for Ecosystem Services

Reference Title	Valuing ecosystem services from wetlands restoration in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley
Date Published	Nov 2009
Authors	W. Aaron Jenkins , Brian C. Murray, Randall A. Kramer, Stephen P. Faulkner
Summary	This study assesses the value of restoring forested wetlands via the U.S. government's Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley by quantifying and monetizing ecosystem services. The estimated social value surpasses the public expenditure or social cost of wetlands restoration in only 1 year, indicating that the return on public investment is very attractive for the WRP. Moreover, the potential market value is substantially greater than landowner opportunity costs, showing that payments to private landowners to restore wetlands could also be profitable for individual landowners.
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