Are there economic benefits from managing invasive species?
Abstract
Invasive species are known to cause significant negative impacts to ecosystems and to people. In this paper, an outline on the nature of these economic impacts was presented which includes a range of approaches for estimating the economic costs of invasive species (including impacts on biodiversity), and thus the benefits of management programmes. The importance of thinking clearly about the most appropriate context for valuation is highlighted. Examples of the application of non-market valuation approaches to invasive species management were also included in this article which showed how such methods can be used to measure public preferences over how control is undertaken. Some important problems in applying economic valuation methods were also discussed.