Economic valuation of coral reef ecosystems in the Mesoamerican (MAR) Region and the goods and services they provide

Without appropriate conservation actions, coral reefs will continue to degrade. Being aware of their benefits is becoming increasingly important for their local conservation. Therefore, there would be clear benefits in valuing coral reefs and increasing awareness of the importance of policies designed to protect them.

Within this context, the objective of the proposed study was to understand the value of the coral reef ecosystems in the Mesoamerican region (MAR), and the importance of their conservation to better inform decision makers. To achieve this objective, Metroeconomica conducted an economic valuation analysis of the coral reef ecosystems in the MAR Region and the services they provide.

Specifically, the tasks developed were related to a literature review on ecosystem services of coral reefs and on valuation methods for different ecosystem services and their monetary values, and to assess non-use values using Contingent Valuation Method. Based on that, a final distributional analysis of impact was conducted.

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