Staff View: Strengthened multi-stakeholder linkages in valuation studies is critical for improved decision making outcomes for valuable mangroves

Strengthened multi-stakeholder linkages in valuation studies is critical for improved decision making outcomes for valuable mangroves - The Malaysian case study

Mangrove forests in Southeast Asia are continuously declining as a result of unsustainable practices, partly due to limited recognition of the value of mangrove services in land use decision making. Valuation practitioners have assumed that monetary valuation should inform local and national decisio...

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Main Authors:	Lee, Soon Loong, Then, Amy Yee-Hui, Goh, Hong Ching, Hattam, Caroline, Edwards-Jones, Andrew, Austen, Melanie C.
Format:	Article
Published:	FRONTIERS MEDIA SA 2022
Subjects:	S Agriculture (General)
Online Access:	http://eprints.um.edu.my/46157/ https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.1033200
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id	my.um.eprints.46157
record_format	eprints
spelling	my.um.eprints.461572024-10-29T04:55:09Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/46157/ Strengthened multi-stakeholder linkages in valuation studies is critical for improved decision making outcomes for valuable mangroves - The Malaysian case study Lee, Soon Loong Then, Amy Yee-Hui Goh, Hong Ching Hattam, Caroline Edwards-Jones, Andrew Austen, Melanie C. S Agriculture (General) Mangrove forests in Southeast Asia are continuously declining as a result of unsustainable practices, partly due to limited recognition of the value of mangrove services in land use decision making. Valuation practitioners have assumed that monetary valuation should inform local and national decision makers to ensure sustainable management of mangrove resources. For ecosystem service valuation to be of use to decision makers, best practices should be adhered to such as having straightforward policy questions and strong stakeholder engagement from the onset of valuation studies, suitable choice of valuation methodologies, and the ability to effectively demonstrate causal links between drivers of ecosystem health, change, and resource users. This study, focusing on the Malaysian case study, assessed the effectiveness and challenges of local ecosystem service valuation studies in informing mangrove management decisions against a set of global best practices. A systematic review approach was undertaken to identify relevant Malaysian mangrove ecosystem service valuation studies. Of 184 studies identified, only 17 provided monetary values for mangrove ecosystem services. These studies valued nine different mangrove ecosystem services, with the cultural ecosystem services of tourism being the most frequently valued. Most of the valuation studies were designed to raise awareness of the value of ecosystems (64.7%). Other intended uses included determining appropriate charging rates for mangrove uses (17.6%), comparing the costs and benefits of different environmental uses (11.8%), and providing a justification and support for certain decision making (5.9%). Overall, mangrove valuation studies in Malaysia were characterized by weak multi-stakeholder engagement, non-standardized valuation units across the whole country, limited dissemination of the valuation outcome, and cursory references to the potential use of mangrove ecosystem services. Most of the studies did not exert apparent influence on mangrove management. Future valuation studies in Malaysia and the Southeast Asian region should aim to build more robust engagement between valuation practitioners and key stakeholder groups, especially decision makers, at all stages of the study process and incorporate a clear dissemination strategy for sharing results. FRONTIERS MEDIA SA 2022-11 Article PeerReviewed Lee, Soon Loong and Then, Amy Yee-Hui and Goh, Hong Ching and Hattam, Caroline and Edwards-Jones, Andrew and Austen, Melanie C. (2022) Strengthened multi-stakeholder linkages in valuation studies is critical for improved decision making outcomes for valuable mangroves - The Malaysian case study. FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE, 9. ISSN 2296-7745, DOI https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.1033200 <https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.1033200>. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.1033200 10.3389/fmars.2022.1033200
institution	Universiti Malaya
building	UM Library
collection	Institutional Repository
continent	Asia
country	Malaysia
content_provider	Universiti Malaya
content_source	UM Research Repository
url_provider	http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic	S Agriculture (General)
spellingShingle	S Agriculture (General) Lee, Soon Loong Then, Amy Yee-Hui Goh, Hong Ching Hattam, Caroline Edwards-Jones, Andrew Austen, Melanie C. Strengthened multi-stakeholder linkages in valuation studies is critical for improved decision making outcomes for valuable mangroves - The Malaysian case study
description	Mangrove forests in Southeast Asia are continuously declining as a result of unsustainable practices, partly due to limited recognition of the value of mangrove services in land use decision making. Valuation practitioners have assumed that monetary valuation should inform local and national decision makers to ensure sustainable management of mangrove resources. For ecosystem service valuation to be of use to decision makers, best practices should be adhered to such as having straightforward policy questions and strong stakeholder engagement from the onset of valuation studies, suitable choice of valuation methodologies, and the ability to effectively demonstrate causal links between drivers of ecosystem health, change, and resource users. This study, focusing on the Malaysian case study, assessed the effectiveness and challenges of local ecosystem service valuation studies in informing mangrove management decisions against a set of global best practices. A systematic review approach was undertaken to identify relevant Malaysian mangrove ecosystem service valuation studies. Of 184 studies identified, only 17 provided monetary values for mangrove ecosystem services. These studies valued nine different mangrove ecosystem services, with the cultural ecosystem services of tourism being the most frequently valued. Most of the valuation studies were designed to raise awareness of the value of ecosystems (64.7%). Other intended uses included determining appropriate charging rates for mangrove uses (17.6%), comparing the costs and benefits of different environmental uses (11.8%), and providing a justification and support for certain decision making (5.9%). Overall, mangrove valuation studies in Malaysia were characterized by weak multi-stakeholder engagement, non-standardized valuation units across the whole country, limited dissemination of the valuation outcome, and cursory references to the potential use of mangrove ecosystem services. Most of the studies did not exert apparent influence on mangrove management. Future valuation studies in Malaysia and the Southeast Asian region should aim to build more robust engagement between valuation practitioners and key stakeholder groups, especially decision makers, at all stages of the study process and incorporate a clear dissemination strategy for sharing results.
format	Article
author	Lee, Soon Loong Then, Amy Yee-Hui Goh, Hong Ching Hattam, Caroline Edwards-Jones, Andrew Austen, Melanie C.
author_facet	Lee, Soon Loong Then, Amy Yee-Hui Goh, Hong Ching Hattam, Caroline Edwards-Jones, Andrew Austen, Melanie C.
author_sort	Lee, Soon Loong
title	Strengthened multi-stakeholder linkages in valuation studies is critical for improved decision making outcomes for valuable mangroves - The Malaysian case study
title_short	Strengthened multi-stakeholder linkages in valuation studies is critical for improved decision making outcomes for valuable mangroves - The Malaysian case study
title_full	Strengthened multi-stakeholder linkages in valuation studies is critical for improved decision making outcomes for valuable mangroves - The Malaysian case study
title_fullStr	Strengthened multi-stakeholder linkages in valuation studies is critical for improved decision making outcomes for valuable mangroves - The Malaysian case study
title_full_unstemmed	Strengthened multi-stakeholder linkages in valuation studies is critical for improved decision making outcomes for valuable mangroves - The Malaysian case study
title_sort	strengthened multi-stakeholder linkages in valuation studies is critical for improved decision making outcomes for valuable mangroves - the malaysian case study
publisher	FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
publishDate	2022
url	http://eprints.um.edu.my/46157/ https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.1033200
_version_	1814933257826861056
score	13.211869

Strengthened multi-stakeholder linkages in valuation studies is critical for improved decision making outcomes for valuable mangroves - The Malaysian case study

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