Decision Making for Sustainable Use and Development - Coastal Lagoons: Ecosystem Processes and Modeling for Sustainable Use and Development - page 336

Just as the ecological components were defined and inventoried ( Chapters 2
through 5 ), the SES components should be, too. The basic units or elements of the
SES and the hierarchical interrelationships within its infrastructure need to be iden-
tified and inventoried.

For example, the units and levels of agencies, private interest
groups, industries, land use, education system, and information system that have an
effect on the lagoon system should all be considered as basic conceptual and meth-
odological units with which to approach sustainability. Ecological and economic
variables representing both the potential capacity of the lagoon and the potential use
(supply and demand) should be inventoried and viewed as important considerations
to the decision maker.

11,12

12-15

Once inventoried, the value of the basic components should be estimated. An
example of an economic valuation or inventory is provided in Figure 8.3. It consists
of two steps. The first step is to define the economic values derived from and
intrinsic to the lagoon ecosystem, commonly referred to as the NC.

has
been traditionally defined as the accumulated wealth in the form of investments,
factories, equipment, etc. NC is similarly defined as the natural resources we use,
both renewable and nonrenewable. More recently, this definition has been expanded
to include not only the “goods,” but also the myriad ecological “services” that the
natural system provides (e.g., wetland filter pollutants from run-off water, buffer
shorelines from erosion) and which are, in many cases, sinks to ground water.

Capital

16

For example, Costanza et al., Brouwer et al., and Wilson and Carpenter

17 18 19

describe the significant economic values of wetlands acknowledging their multi-
functional resource role. The status of a methodology attempting to quantify these
values is rapidly evolving and still considered to be inadequate in its early devel-
opment stages.

13,20-23

Defining the contribution of a lagoon to an area's economic system therefore
consists of identifying the major economic and social values of the lagoon ecosystem.
This can be done by categorizing the stocks that produce the wide range of ecological
and economic goods and services used by the area's economy as NC or manmade
capital.

Any analysis of NC should include both renewable and nonrenewable
resources as well as the wide range of ecosystem processes that maintain and
provide for the ecological life-support system of the area. Therefore, it is important
to include in any analysis the many natural processes and functions that maintain
the atmosphere, climate, hydrology, soils, biological fertility, and productivity as
well as nutrient recycling, waste assimilation, and even the maintenance of genetic
stocks (Figure 8.3). Unfortunately, estimation of these values is not a simple process
and has only recently begun to be well quantified. Nevertheless, estimates of these
values should be developed in order to comprehensively account for the value of
the lagoon ecosystem to the area.
Additional anthropogenic values, including aesthetic and amenity values, have
been placed on ecosystems.

17,24,25

These values should also be estimated in
order to allow for a realistic cost-benefit analysis of the various alternatives for
lagoon management. Section 8.7 presents a summary of some of the existing valu-
ation tools and methods for quantifying the economic value of the ecological assets.
The second step in this inventory or SES definition is to identify those natural
and human elements and actions (demands) that influence the lagoon ecosystem

14,15,17,19,24,26