Beukering, P.J.H. van

User fee systems are effectively utilised in different places throughout the Caribbean and provide sustainable financial resources that successfully enable and support conservation efforts. The main advantage of this market mechanism is that it alleviates the reliance on philanthropic and political trends that are out of reach from PA managers and subject to unpredictable but significant fluctuations. However, in several cases, user fee implementation proves to be infeasible, impracticable or otherwise too challenging. In previous research, financial flows and mechanisms were structured and hypothesised in the ‘Eco2Fin’ framework, theoretically closing a sustainable finance loop for nature conservation. But due to a lack of empirical evidence, the contextual factors that influence the functioning of sustainable finance mechanisms remain under-emphasised in academic literature. Effective utilisation of the theoretical sustainable finance mechanisms is still faced by numerous obstacles in reality. This research, with the specific -focus on user fee systems, thoroughly investigates the implementation process from firsthand knowledge and experiences. By interviewing eleven key stakeholders from ten different island states in the Caribbean, the results provide additional depth, nuance and complexity to the current base of knowledge on user fee implementation. Concluding, the most challenging obstacles that limit or constrain user fee implementation are social and political resistance, especially the combination of both, whereas the most significant drivers of user fee implementation lie in the governance and communicative domain.

This report will specifically focus on the spatial distribution of the ecosystem service values and will eventually visualize these values geographically in a total economic value map. The total economic value (TEV) of the ecosystems of St Eustatius is the sum of five different and mutually exclusive economic values. All these values have been previously studied and are published in different reports (Cado van der Lely et al. 2014; Fenkl et al. 2014; Van de Kerkhof et al. 2014). In this report we will merely visualize these values geographically and develop the TEV map. The TEV map will then be used to assess whether current spatial planning covers those ecosystems which are most valuable to the economy of St Eustatius.

When the spatial allocation of the economic value of ecosystems is compared to current spatial policies, the main conclusion is that existing boundaries for nature conservation appear to be on the right place. This however does not imply that policy is currently sufficient to conserve nature’s value since we have done no qualitative assessment of actual management. Moreover some very valuable areas of both terrestrial and marine environment are placed outside protective areas.

According to the spatial analyses of the values of St Eustatius’ ecosystems we have formulated the following three recommendations:

• Current protective zoning designations, both marine and terrestrial, are located in such a way that they protect the most valuable natural assets of St Eustatius. It is therefore vital that these zonings and regulations are strictly enforced to maintain the economic value of the ecosystems.

• One area along the slopes of the Quill Volcano could be reassessed for its zoning. According to our analysis this area encompasses some vital ecosystems and construction on this area could be further limited. We therefore recommend further research into this area and presumably a different zoning designation.

• The anchorage zone for NuStar could be reassessment reassessed since it is coinciding with a very valuable part of the coral reef. We recommend to investigate whether it would be possible to locate the anchorage zone further away from valuable coral.

This report will specifically focus on the spatial distribution of the ecosystem values and eventually visualize these values geographically in a total economic value map. The total economic value (TEV) of the ecosystems of Saba is the sum of several different and mutually exclusive economic values. All these values have been previously studied and are published in different reports (Cado van der Lely et al. 2014; Dekker et al. 2014; Van de Kerkhof et al. 2014). In this report we will merely visualize these values geographically and add up the values to create the TEV map. The TEV map will then be used to assess whether current spatial planning covers those ecosystems which are most valuable to the economy of Saba.

The TEV map has clearly demonstrated that for the marine and the terrestrial ecosystems of Saba, the economic value is highly concentrated on relatively small areas. On the island the economic value is mostly concentrated on the slopes of Mount Scenery. This value can for a large part be attributed to what tourist spend and are willing to pay for a vacation enjoying the natural beauty of trails around Mount Scenery. The marine value can almost solely be attributed to the coral reefs of the coastal waters of Saba.

Although, there are several policies in place to manage the areas with high economic value on the terrestrial grounds of Saba, there is no authority that is in charge and responsible for the conservation of certain economically valuable natural areas. To guarantee the sustainability of the concentrated economic value on Mount Scenery, the management of this area could be more sufficiently embedded within the institutional framework of local spatial policy.

The current zoning of the Saba marine park is concurrent with the spatial distribution of economic value. However, some reefs which add a significant value to the economy of Saba are located within the less protective zoning of ‘Multipurpose’. A light alteration to the zoning including this area in the ‘no take’ zoning could provide optimal protection of the coral reef and thus retain the economic value of the marine park. 

Map (GIS) showing the economic values of marine ecosystems on Saba for:

• Carbon sequestration
• Cultural and local recreational value
• Tourism

See this report for more information

For illustration, the excerpt below shows the carbon sequestration:

Map (GIS) showing the economic values of terrestrial ecosystems on Saba for:

• Carbon sequestration
• Cultural and local recreational value
• Archeology

See this report for more information

For illustration, the excerpt below shows the carbon sequestration:

Map (GIS) showing the economic values of marine ecosystems on St.Eustatius for:

• Carbon sequestration
• Cultural and local recreational value
• Fisheries
• Tourism

See this report for more information

For illustration, the excerpt below shows the total economic value:

Map (GIS) showing the economic values of terrestrial ecosystems on St. Eustatius for:

• Carbon sequestration
• Cultural and local recreational value
• Archeology

See this report for more info.

For illustration, the excerpt below shows the total economic value

Since 10 October 2010 Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius (Statia) are part of the Netherlands. These three islands are referred to as the Caribbean Netherlands. The objective of this study is to assess the value that Dutch people as well as non-Dutch residents living in the Netherlands mainland assign to nature in the Caribbean Netherlands. This research applies two different stated preference techniques, the contingent valuation method (CVM) and choice experiments (CE), to determine the Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) of those living in the Netherlands for the conservation of ecosystem services and biodiversity in the Netherlands’ mainland and the Caribbean Netherlands.
Both methods provided new insights into the way people value the non-use values of nature in a national and local context. The surveys provided evidence for a nationalistic and community-based influence on valuation of nature. Both the CVM and the CE methods showed that locally-oriented Dutch citizens value nature in their own neighbourhood or country relatively higher than citizens with a global perspective or foreigners who live in the Netherlands and who place a lower value on improvement of nature in their own environment
Both surveys also showed that the values for nature both in and outside of the Netherlands depend heavily on the emotional mindset of the respondent. For example, individuals who are unconcerned about the state of nature in general value improvements of nature less than those who are concerned about nature. In the same fashion, consumer confidence proved to be a strong explanatory variable for value for nature protection: individuals with a high level of consumer confidence express a higher WTP for nature protection.
Finally, several methodological lessons were drawn from the surveys. These include the detection of ordering, anchoring and scoping effects, as well as the correlation between preference and payment uncertainty.
The estimated WTP amount for non-use values of nature in the Netherlands and the Caribbean Netherlands also allowed for the calculation of the aggregated values of both value domains. The non-adjusted aggregated annual amount of non-use value of nature in the Netherlands and the Caribbean Netherlands is estimated at €65 million and €34 million, respectively. However, by adjusting for preference and payment uncertainty of the respondent, the aggregated annual amount for the non-use value for nature improvements in the Netherlands is estimated at €34 million and for the Caribbean Netherlands at €18 million.