New methods for valuing, and for identifying spatial variations, in cultural services: a case study of the Great Barrier Reef

Estimating values for ecosystem services (ES) can contribute to the decision making process, reducing the risk that ES benefits are overlooked. For ES with no (direct or indirect) links to markets, valuation is a nontrivial exercise. Traditional methods require the use of hypothetical markets; the life satisfaction (LS) approach does not. LS has previously been used to estimate the value of regulating ES, but to the best of our knowledge has never been used to estimate the value of cultural services (CS).

We examine the relationship between LS and a subset of CS provided by the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), (the non-use CS), using geographically weighted regression to investigate spatial variations in value. After controlling for other factors, we find income is more important to LS in the south than the north; the opposite is true for non-use CS.

The coefficients are used to estimate the amount of income required to keep overall LS constant, should the non-use CS of the GBR not be preserved, estimated at $8.7 bn annually. We acknowledge the imperfections of our work, noting the need for research on better CS measures, but feel that the general approach may add another useful tool to the valuation toolbox.