Measuring the benefits of environmental stewardship in rural landscapes

Valuation metrics, which quantify the environmental benefits of services supplied by farmers, are essential for the effective operation of stewardship programs. Metrics can be used to select stewardship sites/projects in light of budget constraints. This paper describes the design, application and policy relevance of the Tamar Sustainability Index (TSI). The TSI was developed through on-farm field trials of 21 properties and 154 stewardship sites in northern Tasmania in Australia. Multiple criteria analysis (MCA) is used to model investor preferences over multiple services. Combinatorial optimisation procedures are employed to identify the optimum portfolio of stewardship sites. Community preferences were captured through a stakeholder panel of 32 persons who helped to select and weight indicators. We examine the methodological challenges of capturing community preferences, segregating private versus public benefit, incorporating cost and structuring the decision problem. We suggest that our approach can provide an effective means of quantifying benefits of environmental stewardship and guiding investment decisions. A transparent approach that explicitly identifies, and weights, evaluation criteria can improve stakeholder acceptance and investor confidence.