Economic value of protected areas via visitor mental health.
review · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31719526.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-12631-6 and PMC identifier 6851373.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
We evaluate methods to calculate the economic value of protected areas derived from the improved mental health of visitors. A conservative global estimate using quality-adjusted life years, a standard measure in health economics, is US$6 trillion p.a. This is an order of magnitude greater than the global value of protected area tourism, and two to three orders greater than global aggregate protected area management agency budgets. Future research should: refine this estimate using more precise methods; consider interactions between health and conservation policies and budgets at national scales; and examine links between personalities and protected area experiences at individual scale.
Medical subject headings
- Conservation of Natural Resources
- Mental Health