Table Of ContentLINKING THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE ECONOMY:
ESSAYS FROM THE ECO-ECO GROUP
Ecology, Economy & Environment
VOLUME I
Linking the Natural Environment
and the Economy:
Essays from the Eco-Eco Group
edited by
Carl Folke
Department of Systems Ecology,
Divisions of Marine Ecology and
Natural Resources Management,
Stockholm University,
Stockholm, Sweden
and
Tomas Kaberger
Physical Resource Theory Group,
Chalmers University of Technology,
and the Swedish Society for the
Conservation of Nature,
Gothenburg, Sweden
Springer Science+Business Media, B.V.
ISBN 978-90-481-4089-3 ISBN 978-94-017-6406-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-6406-3
Printed on acid-free paper
Ali Rigbll Resemld
@ 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers 1991
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1991
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any fonn or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any infonnation storage and
retrieval system, without written pennission from the copyright owner.
CONTENTS:
Preface and Acknowledgements vii
Dedication to Johan Ashuwd ix
PART I
PERSPECI'IVES ON ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMY
Chapter 1. The Contextual Features of the Economy-Ecology
Dialogue
UnoSvedin 3
Chapter2. Actors, Roles, and Networks: An Institutional
Perspective to Environmental Problems
Peter SOderbaum 31
Chapter 3. Economic Analysis of Environmental Impacts
JanBojo 43
Chapter4. Measuring Instrumental Value in Energy Terms
Tomas KtJberger 61
ChapterS. Socio-Economic Dependence on the Life-Supporting
Environment
CarlFolke 77
PARTU
THE ROLE AND VALUE OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
Chapter6. Ecological Consequences of Long-Term landscape
Transformations in Relation to Energy Use and
Economic Development
AM Marilansson 97
Chapter?. Arable land as a Resource
Knut Per Hasund 111
ChapterS. The Societal Value of Wetland Life-Support
CarlFolke 141
VI
Chapter 9. Costs for Nitrogen Source Reduction in a
Eutrophicated Bay in Sweden
/ng-Marie Andreasson-Gren 173
Chapter 10. Marine Ecosystem Support to Fisheries
and Fish Trade
Monica Hammer 189
PARTm
ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Chapter 11. Use and Impacts of Chemical Pesticides in Smallholder
Agriculture in the Central Kenya Highlands
Carl Christiansson 213
Chapter 12. Multinational Firms and Pollution in Developing
Countries
Thomas Andersson 237
Chapter 13. Environmental Conservation for Development
in Central America
JohanAshuvud 253
PART IV
SYNTHESIS
Chapter 14. Recent Trends in Unking the Natural Environment
and the Economy
Carl Folke and Tomas Kdberger 273
The Eco-Eco Group 301
Notes on the Contnbutors 303
Preface
Severe environmental degradation and global environmental problems have
brought the issue of sustainable development into the forefront throughout the world.
The recent opening up of Eastern Europe has harshly illustrated the dependence of
socio-economic systems on healthy environments and functional ecosystems. The
Brundtland Report has been an important document contnbuting to a growing
awareness and a concensus of opinion that it is no longer possible to take environ
mental goods and services for granted, instead they have to be considered in decision
making at various levels in society. In Sweden, for example, a decision to investigate
how to include environmental degradation costs in the Gross National Product was
taken in 1990 by the Ministry of Finance, in addition a research institute dealing with
environmental policy and technology issues was established the year before and a new
institute aiming at integrating ecology and economy is on its way.
There is a pervasive need to understand the interactions between the natural en
vironment and human systems, and there is increasing research on the interface
between ecology and economy. However, among scientists there are considerable dif
ferences in perspectives, in the approaches to environmental problems, and on what
actions are required to approach sustainable development. With the purpose of
bridging and increasing the understanding of the different perspectives among ecolo
gists and economists and stimulating communication and cooperation concerning en
vironmental issues, the Eco-Eco Group was founded in 1984. The initiative in the
formation of the group was taken by Johan Ashuvud who, tragically, died in a car
accident in 1988. To honour the memory of a skillful colleague and a dear friend we
decided to write this book.
The book consists of three parts. Part one presents various perspectives on
ecology and economy linkages. Part two consists of empirical analyses of the role and
value of the natural environment for economic activity, and it provides examples from
regional land use, agriculture, wetlands, and coastal and marine ecosystems. Part three
deals with human impacts on the natural environment in developing countries, from
a local to an international level. Finally, a synthesis outlines the major perspectives in
ecology and economics dealing with the interaction between Man and Nature, and
places the chapters of the book within these perspectives.
It is our hope that the essays from the Eco-Eco Group will contribute to increased
communication and reciprocal understanding and openness towards various ap
proaches aimed at linking the natural environment and the economy, for the mutual
benefit of all.
Stockholm, January 1991
CarlFolke Tomas KAberger
VIII
Acknowledgements
This book has contnbuted from the assistance of several persons. First of all we
would like to thank Tensie Whelan, Johan's wife, for her interest and help during the
progress of the book. All papers have been reviewed and we are grateful to John
Bowers, Cutler Qeveland, Robert Costanza, Pierre Crosson, Herman Daly, John
Dixon, Karl-Erik Eriksson, Frank Galley, Rudolf de Groot, Charles Hall, Robert
Herendeen, Bengt-Owe Jansson, Nils Kautsky, Bengt MAnsson, Per-Olof Nilsson,
Richard Norgaard, David Pearce, Ronny Petterson, David Pimentel, David Rapport,
Rafal Serafin, Thomas Sterner, Lori Ann Thrupp, James Zucchetto and Thomasz
Zyliczfor their constructive comments and for kindly helping us to improve the papers.
A special thank goes to Ulrik Kautsky whose interest resulted in a generous financial
grant from the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA) for distribution
of the book. The most welcomed grant from SIDA made us indeed very happy, and is
of course gratefully acknowledged. Funding for the project was provided through
grants from the Swedish Forestry and Agricultural Research Council (SJFR ), and the
Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination ofResearch (FRN). We do appreciate
their support to the work with this book and to the research field of integrating ecology
and economy. The english was corrected by Chris Wilson and Tensie Whelan. Many
thanks also to Olimpia Garcia-Flares and Meta KAgesson who assisted with typing.
A Dedication to Johan Ashuvud
Johan Ashuvud, our dear friend, skilful colleague and the founder of the Eco-Eco
group, died tragically in a car accident in May 1988. The sad message of Johan's death
reach us at an international conference on sustainability issues and the future of our
globe, with participants from both the natural and social sciences. Johan was deeply
engaged in such issues, and despite his young age (born February 26, 1961) he had
contributed substantially to an increased understanding of the interdependencies
between the natural environments and our socio-economic systems.
Already in 1979, as a fellow at the Lester B. Pearson College in Canada, his en
thusiastic promotion and dedicated work while at the college, resulted in the creation
of one of the first marine reserves in the world, The Race Rocks Ecological Reserve,
Victoria, British Columbia. He took his master's degree in economics at the Stockholm
School of Economics, and continued with Ph.D. studies in natural resource- and
environmental economics. He also studied at the International Institute for Applied
Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Vienna.
Johan realized at an early stage the importance oflinking the natural environment
and the economy and worked enthusiastically to speed up this process. His concern
about growing environmental threats, problems with food scarcity in the third world,
and an ambition to try to do something about it made him feel he did not have the time
to wait for abstract scientific solutions. He wanted to deal with the problems in the field,
in reality. For a while he studied the environmental and economic consequences of the
construction of a paper mill in Tanzania. He spent his last two years with his wife Tensie
in Costa Rica where he worked as Regional Project Representative in Central Amer
ica for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
In a tribute to Johan, Mark Halle at the IUCN wrote the following ''There are few
instances in the history of IUCN's field operations where such a significant pro
gramme of activities, and such an extensive network of new partnerships, has devel
oped in so brief a time. Most of the impetus for the Central America programme's
rapid yet systematic growth, was provided by Johan Ashuvud. Johan built for IUCN a
position of respect and trust in the Central American community that is truly remark
able. How did he do it? The answer lies in characteristics of Johan 's which, in many
ways, mirror the profile that IUCN would like to be known by as an organization. Johan
had vision, dynamism, and a sense of commitment to the goals of IUCN in Central
America, which guaranteed his effectiveness. But, more than this, he had the charac
ter, honesty and openess to be a real "integrator"-of project components, of ideas, of
people. Johan was an open and cooperative person. He had a basic trust in people and
in the positive nature of their intentions, which in tum instilled in them a sense of conf-
