Valuation of forest ecosystem services in Taiwan

Abstract

Forest is the largest ecosystem in the land area of Taiwan. In the past, most of the studies on the evaluation of forest ecosystem services were regional, and therefore lacked national assessment. This study uses a market value method and a benefit transfer method to assess the value of the forest ecosystem services in Taiwan, and expounds the link between ecosystem services and the effectiveness of forestry management and conservation. Preliminarily, it is estimated that the total value of forest ecosystem services in 2016 was approximately NT $749,278 million (equal to approximately 47.6 billion U.S. dollars, PPP-corrected), accounting for 4.28% of the GDP in 2016. The quotation of unit price data has a huge impact on the final assessment results of forest ecosystem service value, and therefore it is necessary use it appropriately.