ECOSYSTEM APPROACH TO THE ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE AND LOSS

Abstract

Disasters and emergencies typically cause deterioration of ecosystems and natural resources. They also result unforeseen consequences and devastations. For Ukraine’s government a comprehensive and well-designed methodology assessing environmental damages and losses is a key tool facilitating application to international courts with intention to get many compensations for the damage caused to the environment. The methodology has to consider diverse impacts and interactions in natural habitats and be complement with the international law. The ecosystem approach is congruent with the listed arguments. Presentation and substantiation of key methodological principles based on the ecosystem approach to the assessment of environmental damage and losses is the goal of the paper. The following task is to adjust the developed considerations for evaluation of losses of the natural areas of Ukraine. The current national methodology for determining the damage and losses, as well as well-known concept of ecosystem services evaluation provide the sound background for update of the approach to environmental damage assessment. Particularly it is proposed to assess the damage considering the ecosystem services losses and costs of deteriorated ecosystems restoration and the assessment procedures. Due to the ecosystem analysis comprehensiveness, the difference between values of ecosystem services before and after the damage accidents takes into account price of lost resources and gone income and profits. If an expected time of the lost natural resources (ecosystem services) restoration is long enough, one has to regard a discount rate (future prices capitalization). Recreational ecosystem services of Hetmansky national nature park (Sumy region) are evaluated. The calculation includes valuation of direct excursions, benefits of health and recreation services, the effect of employees’ sick leaves reduction due to they visited the park before, and expected benefits of the park if it will supply tourism and recreation services in the future. It is concluded the damage’s cost significantly depends on time of ecosystem services restoration and on a base year chosen for comparing ecosystems before and after an accident. Still there is no answer how to assess ecosystem services loss if partial damage of ecosystems.