In addition to food and fibre, agricultural land provides public amenities in the form of wildlife habitat, protection of natural resources, open spaces, aesthetic scenery and cultural preservation. Most previous studies have used contingent valuation methods to measure the value of these services. We use an alternative procedure, which provides a value of the agricultural landscape per se, as measured against a specific alternative, and is based on whether agricultural landscape had an influence on visitation decisions. Our procedure involves a travel cost model estimated by count-data regression techniques using (truncated) samples of visitors. An application to two regions in Israel reveals a substantial value for agricultural landscape, as compared with the traditional returns to farming.

This book maps points of common understanding and cooperation in the interpretation of landscapes. These interfaces appear between cultures, between natural and human sciences, lay people and experts, time and space, preservation and use, ecology and semiosis. The book compares how different cultures interpret landscapes, examines how cultural values are assessed, explores new tools for assessment, traces the discussion about landscape authenticity, and finally draws perspectives for further research.

This book aims to explore the avenue of landscape economics and provides the building blocks (from different scientific disciplines) for an economic analysis of landscapes. What exactly constitutes and determines the value of a landscape? It focuses on the value of landscapes in its broadest sense, thereby covering a variety of topics including stakeholder involvement in landscape design, landscape governance and landscape perceptions from different countries. Merely saying that landscapes have value or are important is not sufficient – not when resources are scarce and have alternative uses. Measuring and quantifying the economic value of changes in landscapes would help ensure that landscape management decisions are both (economically) rational and sound.

This book maps points of common understanding and cooperation in the interpretation of landscapes. These interfaces appear between cultures, between natural and human sciences, lay people and experts, time and space, preservation and use, ecology and semiosis. The book compares how different cultures interpret landscapes, examines how cultural values are assessed, explores new tools for assessment, traces the discussion about landscape authenticity, and finally draws perspectives for further research.

This book aims to explore the avenue of landscape economics and provides the building blocks (from different scientific disciplines) for an economic analysis of landscapes. What exactly constitutes and determines the value of a landscape? It focuses on the value of landscapes in its broadest sense, thereby covering a variety of topics including stakeholder involvement in landscape design, landscape governance and landscape perceptions from different countries. Merely saying that landscapes have value or are important is not sufficient - not when resources are scarce and have alternative uses. Measuring and quantifying the economic value of changes in landscapes would help ensure that landscape management decisions are both (economically) rational and sound.

Population growth and rising living standards, on the one hand, and changing climate, on the other hand, have exacerbated water scarcity worldwide. To address this problem, policymakers need to take a wide view of the water economy – a complex structure involving environmental, social, economic, legal, and institutional aspects. A coherent water policy must look at the water economy as a whole and apply a comprehensive approach to policy interventions. Written by two of the world's leading scholars on economics of water, this is the first graduate-level textbook on the topic. The book discusses water resource management within a comprehensive framework that integrates the different, yet highly entwined, elements of a water economy. It follows the steps needed to develop a well-designed set of policies based on detailed analyses of intervention measures, using multi-sectoral and economy-wide examples from a variety of locations and situations around the world.

The idea that nature provides services to people is one of the most powerful concepts to have emerged over the last two decades. It is shaping our understanding of the role that biodiverse ecosystems play in the environment and their benefits for humankind. As a result, there is a growing interest in operational and methodological issues surrounding ecosystem services amongst environmental managers, and many institutions are now developing teaching programmes to equip the next generation with the skills needed to apply the concepts more effectively. This handbook provides a comprehensive reference text on ecosystem services, integrating natural and social science (including economics). Collectively the chapters, written by the world's leading authorities, demonstrate the importance of biodiversity for people, policy and practice. They also show how the value of ecosystems to society can be expressed in monetary and non-monetary terms, so that the environment can be better taken into account in decision making. The significance of the ecosystem service paradigm is that it helps us redefine and better communicate the relationships between people and nature. It is shown how these are essential to resolving challenges such as sustainable development and poverty reduction, and the creation of a green economy in developing and developed world contexts.