What Exactly Does a Healthy Coastal Wetland Provide to Society?

The value of wetland ecosystem services in Louisiana has been estimated at $8,437 to $15,763 per acre (Farber, 1996).

Marine and coastal ecosystems provide humans with a range of goods and services that are important to our well-being. Examples of these ecosystem services include seafood, protection from storms, and recreational opportunities. In order to properly protect and manage these resources, we need to improve our ability to measure and value changes in ecosystem services. The goods and services provided by a healthy marine and coastal ecosystem can be grouped broadly into two categories: market and non-market values. The estimation of economic benefits can assist managers with decision making, as well as increase the public’s general understanding of the economic importance and value of habitats. Listed below are a few examples of ecosystem services from around the country .

Great Lakes Region: Estimating Non-Market Values of Coastal Marshes
Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron, Michigan, is rich in resources that support agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, outdoor recreation and habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. Each year Saginaw Bay wetlands provide $16 million of non-market benefits to recreational users, yielding a total value of $239 million (NOAA CSC, 2009).

Gulf of Mexico Region: The Value of a Coastal Wetland
The Barataria-Terrebonne estuarine system of wetlands is a valuable source of oil and gas, fishing, hunting, and wildlife viewing. Economic benefits accruing from recreational activities ranged from $327 million to $1 billion. The commercial economy was about $3.5 billion (of which about $2.3 million was from oil and gas production). Other wetland services on an annual per-acre basis include protection from hurricane damage ($186), storm surges ($280 to $904), damage to the water supply ($84 to $157), and property losses from inundation ($6,599 to $7,116) (NOAA CSC, 2009).

Pacific Northwest Region: Flood Protection in the Chehalis Basin
In the Chehalis River Basin, Washington, a valuation of 12 ecosystem services shows a range of economic benefits between $1.3 and $11.6 billion in value to citizens every year (Earth Economics, 2010).

Ecosystem services provided by coastal and marine ecosystems
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Ecosystem services provided by coastal and marine ecosystems. This figure is from "Confronting the challenge of implementing marine ecosystem-based management". Values were converted to a comparable numeric system and translated the numeric scale (0–4) to colors for visualization purposes (Leslie and McLeod, 2007).

For more information:

The Economic and Market Value of Coasts and Estuaries: What’s At Stake?

Caring for Our Natural Assets: An Ecosystem Services Perspective