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Wetlands Valuation: State of the Art and Opportunities for Further Development

This workshop and its subsequent report looked at the flood defence opportunities from managed coastal re-alignment and also the implications for fisheries, recreation and navigation.

Current knowledge of wetland valuation, and further developments likely in the light of recent scientific progress, were the areas under discussion at a workshop held at the University of East Anglia in March 2003. The ongoing economic appraisal of managed realignment (now an integral part of a sustainable coastal and flood defence strategy) in the Humber estuary provided strategic backdrop to the discussions, and other topics covered included the role of intertidal habitats in sea defence and as sinks for nutrients and contaminants.

About 50 people attended the workshop, representing central government, research bodies such as the Tyndall Centre, organisations such as the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, academics, private companies and interested individuals, as well as the Environment Agency. Environmental Policy's Bill Watts chaired a debate on what role economic valuation should have in the appraisal of managed realignment and what the priorities should be for further research. There was support for an approach to valuation that identified and then valued ecosystem function.

For further information, download the report: