Skip to main content

Other cultural services

Information and knowledge​

“Information and knowledge” refers to the importance of ecosystems for education and research. Green space provides a framework for experiencing nature and learning experiences for both children and adults and thus plays an important role in nature education (Dillon and Dickie 2012). Nature education plays a vital role in increasing knowledge and improving attitudes towards nature and the environment (Jacobsen et al. 2006).

There are currently no methods available to estimate the benefits of green space for promoting education and research in Flanders.

Cultural, symbolic and spiritual value​

On the one hand, this concerns the stimulating effect of landscape/ecosystems on people's creativity, such as photography and painting. On the other hand, some places are part of cultural and religious traditions and celebrations. A number of landscapes give an identity (a sense of place) to certain regions and the people who live there, and belong to their heritage. Some landscapes or species can be a symbol for a country or region, for example the eagle for America.

There are currently no methods available to estimate this benefit for Flanders.

Social cohesion​

A green environment contributes significantly to the quality of life. People feel more comfortable and happier in a green environment. In addition, green places such as parks and public gardens encourage recreation and social interaction. People meet each other and have a chat in the park, or work together to maintain a green playground in the neighborhood.
Finally, research has shown that the presence of green plants and activities in nature contributes to a safer neighborhood.
This is especially true in an urbanized environment.

Non-use value​

Description​

The non-use value of nature is an important component of the total economic value. The non-use value consists of 3 different parts: a transfer value, an existence value and an option value. This distinction in values is related to the motives for which people want to pay. However, we cannot separate them for valuation purposes.

Required input data:
  • The number of hectares of additional nature and forest

Quantitative and monetary valuation​

Estimating the non-use value of a specific area that is calculated in the Nature Value Explorer is comparatively much more difficult than determining the recreational value, because there is much less guidance in the scientific literature about the factors that determine this non-use value. The choice experiment conducted in 2009 offers an opportunity to make an artificial division of use value and non-use value based on the characteristic "accessibility". The method described below is very rudimentary.

We determine a benefits transfer value for the non-use value, whereby we frame the value of smaller areas in a broader whole, for example by taking into account the scenarios of the nature policy plan. The assumption is then that the non-use value of a specific, small area is part of the total value of a broader strategy of growth of nature reserves in Flanders.

Based on the original valuation function (without scaling), we calculate the willingness to pay of an average household for one hectare of extra nature or forest in Flanders. Based on the number of households and the objectives for additional areas of nature and forest from the nature policy plan of the Flemish government, we calculate a non-use value per hectare.

Due to the large uncertainty in the method, this service is not included as standard in the tool.

Assumptions​

  • We assume that the parameter “accessibility” (€35/household per year in the unscaled function) indicates the use value and subtract this from the willingness to pay. This is probably an underestimate of the share of use value.
  • We assume that 36,000 hectares of nature and 10,000 hectares of forest need to be added in Flanders (according to the Flanders spatial structure plan). The function can be used until these numbers have been achieved.
  • We make an abstraction of the land use type so that the non-use value is the same for each ecosystem type. We are investigating whether we can specify this in the future.

Numbers to use​

Low value: €1,518/ha
High value: €13,240/ha

An example​

For the example, we refer to the Dutch version of the manual.

Indicator​

no indicator