Methods of tree appraisal: A review of their features and application possibilities

Abstract

Urban trees perform a number of basic functions related to the environment and the welfare of city dwellers (ecological, recreational, psychological), although their benefits are not readily quantifiable. However, in certain situations, it is essential to assign an economic value to the trees. There are currently various methods for valuing the benefits of trees and greenspaces in human settlements, including statistical methods, the travel cost method, contingent valuation, the hedonic pricing method, and integrated methods. However, these methods are not used in official valuations of urban trees; in these cases, appraisal methods are used. The aim of this paper is to study the appraisal methods used for their detailed features and the possibilities of their application. The main conclusion of this review is that there are a number of methods with different types of application. The best method is selected according to tree location, type of land ownership, and the availability of data. Methods with a higher degree of applicability are CTLA, a parametric method of low difficulty, and Contato, a mixed method of medium difficulty. In any case, it is advisable to increase efforts to objectify the correction index in the case of parametric and mixed methods. © 2012 International Society of Arboriculture.