Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
revising conventional project economic evaluations to include these money
values
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. The conventional methodology gives zero money value for
eco-resources in the area/region affected by a proposed project. The argument
is that ICs spent very large amounts of real money for this purpose, for many
projects — for example, restoring the eco-systems of the Florida Everglades in
Florida. The proposal recognizes that DCs cannot afford the IC approach, but
notes that even so, the eco-resources do have some intrinsic value for sound
development value in the DCs. The proposed approach is to evaluate the budgets
spent for the many cases of eco-preservation in the United States (and other
ICs) in order to devise a “formula” for quantifying these values, then to have
these IC values reduced to match, say, the relative GDPs of the ICs versus the
DCs, with the value for a particular eco-resource set by a high-level DC com-
mittee comprising both distinguished economists and environmentalists in the
country.
Recommendations
A basic recommendation is for the WWF, IUCN, and
other interested IAAs is to give much more attention to this problem, and in doing
so to do a much better job in adapting or modifying protection technologies devel-
oped in the United States (much to expensive for DC use), including use of the
engineering approach for planning of proposed eco-protection projects, including
use of the methodology discussed in subsection “Economic-cum-Environmental
Development Planning.” The author's review of the IUCN's proposed plan for
protecting Thailand's wildlife habitat in 1980
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is an example of the need for
environmental engineering expertise in developing such plans, including devel-
opment and use of the methodology already noted for assigning many values for
precious DC eco-systems.
Another critical need is for preparing the tropical forests preservation plan
shown in Box 4.9.
BOX 4.9 RECOMMENDED PROGRAM FOR SAVING WORLD'S
TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS
by H. Ludwig
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(a)
(b)
(c)
Prepare TOR for
Feasibility Study
Implementation
Feasibility Study
(FS)
about $50,000 to
$100,000. Report will describe FS job, its components, FS team,
schedule, costs, and proposed financing plan.
(b) This will evaluate all remaining precious tropical rainforests in the
world and delineate the described minimum combination of
(a) This cost estimated at two professional man-months
=
