A Novel Approach to Determining Spatially Explicit Values of Natural Capital

Despite the urgent need to preserve natural capital, little is known about the direct benefits people receive from it. Reliable benefit estimates are required to incorporate the complex values of natural capital in national capital accounting, cost-benefit analyses, project appraisal, and international policy agreements. The study employs a spatial-explicit choice experiment approach, which estimates benefits people receive from changes in natural capital conditional on the current endowment in their places of residence. Studying changes in protected areas and high nature value farmland across Germany, we identify significant use and non-use values of natural capital stocks. We find that the marginal values of natural capital are conditional on the spatial endowment and on whether the type of natural capital is use or non-use related. We use our estimates together with geographic information system data to aggregate and map the distribution of the demand for protected areas and high nature value farmland across Germany. The results are easily transferable to other regions and contexts and allow trading off the benefits and costs of restoring natural capital and biodiversity. Our findings enrich the discussion on the loss of natural capital and biodiversity and can significantly contribute to broader policy discussions in the context of the interlinked climate and biodiversity crises.