Cost-benefit Analysis of the de Merode forests
Calculating the profit of nature and landscape management
With a simple model staff members of the Vlaamse Land Maatschappij (Flemish Land Agency, VLM) can calculate the socio-economic effects of the actions they uindertake in the de Merode forests.
In order to revive the rural region around the villages of Westerlo and Averbode it must be clear which economic implications the management of nature and landscape have. The VLM works with a simple model to calculate the socio-economic effects of its actions. You do not need to be a scientist to use it, and that is the reason that the model is suitable for every organisation in Europe that manages nature and landscape.
In 2004 the Flemish government bought the forests of the family of the princes of De Merode. The VLM was the organisation that had to address the question how these forests can contribute to the regional identity so they yield a surplus value for for instance the tourist industry or for farmers that sell regional products. The VLM had to come up with a means to measure the economic impact of the actions the organisation would undertake in the region. 'Therefore we asked Bureau Buiten to develop a method to measure the impact of our actions on the regional economy', says Erik Verhaert of the VLM. 'Mostly researchers design models that only they know how to use, but we asked for a model that we ourselves could use.'
The researchers came up with a simple model with Excel-sheets in which the economic impact of measures like grazing, the transformation of production forest into a multifunctional forest, or publishing newsletters or a website are compared with the overall level of the regional and national economy. By doing so VLM can calculate what the regional economy profits in extra turnover, added value and jobs.
The first results of the model are promising. The researchers calculated that for example the redesigning of the Averbode forest and heath can yield an extra turnover of between seven and eleven million euros and between 59 to 117 jobs. 'We now have a tool to evaluate our projects', is Verhaerts reaction. 'It is the first time that someone has looked into the socio-economic effects. The primary goal of the redesign of the Averbode forest and heath was to restore the nature, but it is a really positive spin-off that it pays to invest in nature.'
The model that Bureau Buiten designed is also applicable elsewhere in Europe, thinks Verhaert, exactly because the model can be used by people who are not trained scientists. Partner organisations the VLM cooperates with in the European project Lifescape, like the Parcs Naturel Régional in France and the Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England, can thus profit from the experiences of the VLM with the model.
Contact: Vlaamse Landmaatschappij
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