A new public appraisal method for valuating ecosystem services: A case study in the Wuyishan area, China

Revealing the value of ecosystem services is a prerequisite for economic decision-making to maintain life-support functions, yet how to make the valuating process more universally and extensively applicable remains poorly defined. Herein, we developed a public appraisal method (PAM) to let ecosystem services be appraised by the public directly. Inspired by cultural relic identification, the PAM included four steps: categorize real services, build a virtual market, conduct the public appraisal, and produce a valuation list. Taking the Wuyishan forest ecosystem as a study case, we verified the effectiveness of PAM by comparing it with the traditional comprehensive method (TCM). The total value of ecosystem services assessed by PAM was ¥181.6 billion/year, compared with ¥222.3 billion/year for TCM. A new index, called environmental risk perception (ERP), was introduced. The ERP model was used to analyze the differences in the valuation results, as well as to improve the accuracy of PAM valuation. By building a virtual market for real services, we provide a simple valuation method that can be widely applied for value assessment and importance ranking of multiple ecosystem services.