BOOSTING THE ECONOMIC COMPONENT IN ASSESSMENT OF PALUDICULTURE’S POTENTIAL IN THE CONTEXT OF ECOSYSTEM APPROACH

Review of the book: Wichtmann W., Denyshchyk O. Paludiculture: EU experience and prospects for implementation in Ukraine. Compendium. Greifswald, Michael Succow Foundation for the Protection of Nature, 2024. 132 p.

Abstract

The main insights of the unique scientific reference publication on the sustainable management of peatlands in the European Union countries and possible ways of paludiculture development on restored peatlands in Ukraine are represented and analyzed. The need to boost the economic component when assessing the potential of paludiculture in Ukraine for sustainable use of peatlands is substantiated. The main vectors of strengthening the economic component are revealed in the context of ecosystem approach and taking into account the current economic realities of domestic nature management when developing the proposed recommendations for the use of paludiculture practices on restored peatlands with the involvement of environmentally friendly and economically feasible approaches.

It is shown that the first such vector should be factoring in the cost / expenses for introducing paludiculture in particular area by evaluating their most important economic parameters — costs of carbon dioxide emission sequestration; operating expenses; possible additional costs.

It has been proven that the second vector of strengthening the economic component when assessing the potential of paludiculture in Ukraine should be factoring in (in monetary terms) the value of ecosystem services provided by rewetted peatlands, as well as ecosystem services restored thanks to the introduction of paludiculture. Otherwise, the failure to factor in the capitalization of ecosystem services leads to a false idea of the amount of the expected benefits and income from peatland rewetting and paludicultural production development at the local level, which significantly reduces the expected amount of income from the implementation of environmentally constructive measures, thereby significantly influencing in the future the taking of economically justified and comprehensively balanced management decisions regarding the environmental feasibility of implementing such measures.