The economic analysis of wetland rehabilitation

Benefit Cost Analysis has the potential to aid decision-makers searching for an allocation of wetland resources that is optimal for society. However, for Benefit Cost Analysis to be useful, it must be feasible for the most significant benefits and costs of alternative wetland use policies to be estimated in monetary terms. For environmental benefits and costs that are non-marketed, this requirement presents numerous challenges. Choice Modelling shows particular promise in meeting these challenges. A case study involving the rehabilitation of the Macquarie Marshes in central western New South Wales is used to demonstrate how Choice Modelling can generate implicit prices for the individual attributes of wetland rehabilitation projects as well as estimates of the environmental benefits that will be created.