Review of valuation methods for mangrove ecosystem services

The goods and services provided by natural ecosystems contribute to human well being, both directly and indirectly. The ability to calculate the economic value of the ecosystem goods and services is increasingly recognized as a necessary condition for integrated environmental decision-making, sustainable business practice, and land-use planning at multiple geographic scales and socio-political levels. We present a comprehensive overview and summary of studies undertaken to investigate the ecosystem services of mangrove forests. We address the variety of different methods applied for different ecosystem services evaluation of mangrove forests, as well as the methods and techniques employed for data analyses, and further to discuss their potential and limitations. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.