Assessing and Valuing Mangrove Ecosystem Services

Assessment and Economic Valuation of Coastal Protection Services Provided by Mangroves in Jamaica

This project was conducted by a team of researchers at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, and was funded and supported by the World Bank Group. The main aim was to investigate the protective services of mangrove systems and promote cost-effective coastal protection measures through mangrove ecosystem enhancement.  The team of researchers comprised Ecologists, Coastal specialists, Disaster Risk Management Specialists, and Social geographers.  The project also integrated students who were taking a course in Disaster Risk Management, at the Department of Geographer and Geology.

The study was carried out in three sites which were in Bogue Lagoon, St James, Salt Marsh Trelawny, and Portland Cottage in Portland Bight, Clarendon. Mangrove ecology and physical assessments and socio-economic assessment of households in areas adjacent to the mangroves were conducted. Mangroves were assessed at each of the three sites while the socio-economic study dealt with the assessments of households, livelihood, demography, and response to past flooding as well as damage assessments for the above sites.

Here are some important links to the study:

Local Scale Assessment on Mangroves Ecosystems Status and their role in Coastal Resilience

Mangroves Monitoring and Evaluation Manual Jamaica