Valuing Coastal Walking Along the KCIII England Coast Path: Applied Travel Cost & Benefit Transfer Methodology

Marine and coastal cultural ecosystem services (CES), provide valuable benefits to society, such as aesthetic appreciation, inspiration for culture, art, and design, as well as opportunities for recreation and other tangible and intangible benefits. Conducting primary valuations of CES is a costly and time-consuming process, particularly when it comes to large and heterogenous public goods such as the England Coastal Path. Whilst some tools have been developed to facilitate the use of existing valuation and secondary data sources, these tools are typically tailored towards valuing terrestrial goods such as urban parks, and tend to be based on outdated primary data sources. The work presented in this webinar seeks to advance the valuation of cultural benefits, and specifically coastal walking along the England Coast Path as a form of outdoor recreation.

As part of the Marine Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (mNCEA) programme, this research applies the travel cost method to understand the value of coastal walking at four sites (North Norfolk, Kent, Newcastle and South Cornwall), through online surveys of day trip visitors. Drawing on data for each of these sites, a benefit transfer approach to valuing coastal walking across policy sites (for which primary data is not available) is demonstrated. This approach offers a cost-effective means of producing value estimates of a heterogenous environmental good in the light of limited data availability, facilitating both national and local level decision-making where time and resources for primary data collection are scarce.

About Ellen and Barnaby

Ellen McHarg is an environmental economist at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), with a particular interest in determinants of pro-environmental preferences and behaviour. Her research focuses on applied economic assessments (including natural capital and ecosystem service valuation) to understand how people use and value changing coastal and marine environments to support decision-making, both in the UK and internationally.

Dr. Barnaby Andrews is an Environmental economist and Marine Observations Systems Technician based at the Centre for Environmental Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas). Barnaby has extensive experience in the valuation of ecosystem services using survey based methods and has broad interests experience across a broad range of environmental topics including spatial science, natural hazards, and climate change.