Integrated spatial cost-benefit analysis of large-scale mangrove conservation and restoration in Indonesia

Economic development in Indonesia has resulted in reduced poverty but has also been accompanied by significant pressure on natural capital, including its mangrove forests. In recognition of the role of mangroves in providing coastal protection and the delivery of other ecosystem services, the Govern...

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Main Authors: Boris van Zanten, Luke McKinnon Brander, Juan-Pablo Castaneda, Diego Herrera, David Kaczan, Benjamin M. Brown, Ian Andrew Smith, Brenden Jongman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-02-01
Series:Frontiers in Environmental Science
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2025.1459034/full
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author Boris van Zanten
Luke McKinnon Brander
Luke McKinnon Brander
Luke McKinnon Brander
Juan-Pablo Castaneda
Diego Herrera
David Kaczan
David Kaczan
Benjamin M. Brown
Ian Andrew Smith
Ian Andrew Smith
Brenden Jongman
author_facet Boris van Zanten
Luke McKinnon Brander
Luke McKinnon Brander
Luke McKinnon Brander
Juan-Pablo Castaneda
Diego Herrera
David Kaczan
David Kaczan
Benjamin M. Brown
Ian Andrew Smith
Ian Andrew Smith
Brenden Jongman
author_sort Boris van Zanten
collection DOAJ
description Economic development in Indonesia has resulted in reduced poverty but has also been accompanied by significant pressure on natural capital, including its mangrove forests. In recognition of the role of mangroves in providing coastal protection and the delivery of other ecosystem services, the Government of Indonesia has engaged in several policy actions, among others the use of nature based solutions and has set a target to restore or enhance the protection of 600,000 ha of mangroves by 2025. The objective of the analysis presented in this paper is to inform the design and development of a national-scale mangrove conservation and restoration policy for Indonesia through a spatially explicit cost-benefit analysis. The analytical framework involves the integration of maps, data and models to estimate the costs and benefits of mangrove restoration at a high spatial resolution. On the benefit side, we make use of meta-analytic value transfer methods to value changes in fisheries, raw materials, coastal protection, carbon sequestration and avoided emissions, and mangrove tourism. On the cost side, we assess the opportunity and implementation costs using country specific data. Through a spatial overlay of cost and benefit estimates, cost-benefit indicators are calculated per district for investing in additional mangrove restoration and conservation. Using a discount rate of 5.5% and a 30-year project lifetime, the benefit-cost ratios of mangrove conservation and restoration are found to be >1 in most districts indicating positive social returns on investment. We find that mangrove conservation generally has higher benefit-cost ratios than restoration due to both the higher cost of restoration implementation and the additional time that it takes for restored mangroves to deliver ecosystem services. The spatially explicit framework to estimate district-level costs and benefits reveals tradeoffs with agriculture and aquaculture and enables the evaluation of investment scenarios and the spatial prioritisation of investments in mangrove conservation and restoration across Indonesia. Strategic allocation of conservation and restoration investments across districts can potentially significantly increase the economic viability of this nature-based solution.
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spelling doaj-art-3dcf03d026ae4932b4e520a6cf8d77e22025-08-20T02:15:34ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Environmental Science2296-665X2025-02-011310.3389/fenvs.2025.14590341459034Integrated spatial cost-benefit analysis of large-scale mangrove conservation and restoration in IndonesiaBoris van Zanten0Luke McKinnon Brander1Luke McKinnon Brander2Luke McKinnon Brander3Juan-Pablo Castaneda4Diego Herrera5David Kaczan6David Kaczan7Benjamin M. Brown8Ian Andrew Smith9Ian Andrew Smith10Brenden Jongman11World Bank, Washington, DC, United StatesWorld Bank, Washington, DC, United StatesInstitute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NetherlandsInstitute for Earth System Sciences, Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, GermanyResearch Institute of Natural Sciences and Technology, Universidad Rafael Landivar, Guatemala City, GuatemalaWorld Bank, Washington, DC, United StatesWorld Bank, Washington, DC, United StatesSchool of Business, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, AustraliaResearch Institute for Environment and Livelihoods, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT, AustraliaWorld Bank, Washington, DC, United StatesBoston University, Boston, MA, United StatesWorld Bank, Washington, DC, United StatesEconomic development in Indonesia has resulted in reduced poverty but has also been accompanied by significant pressure on natural capital, including its mangrove forests. In recognition of the role of mangroves in providing coastal protection and the delivery of other ecosystem services, the Government of Indonesia has engaged in several policy actions, among others the use of nature based solutions and has set a target to restore or enhance the protection of 600,000 ha of mangroves by 2025. The objective of the analysis presented in this paper is to inform the design and development of a national-scale mangrove conservation and restoration policy for Indonesia through a spatially explicit cost-benefit analysis. The analytical framework involves the integration of maps, data and models to estimate the costs and benefits of mangrove restoration at a high spatial resolution. On the benefit side, we make use of meta-analytic value transfer methods to value changes in fisheries, raw materials, coastal protection, carbon sequestration and avoided emissions, and mangrove tourism. On the cost side, we assess the opportunity and implementation costs using country specific data. Through a spatial overlay of cost and benefit estimates, cost-benefit indicators are calculated per district for investing in additional mangrove restoration and conservation. Using a discount rate of 5.5% and a 30-year project lifetime, the benefit-cost ratios of mangrove conservation and restoration are found to be >1 in most districts indicating positive social returns on investment. We find that mangrove conservation generally has higher benefit-cost ratios than restoration due to both the higher cost of restoration implementation and the additional time that it takes for restored mangroves to deliver ecosystem services. The spatially explicit framework to estimate district-level costs and benefits reveals tradeoffs with agriculture and aquaculture and enables the evaluation of investment scenarios and the spatial prioritisation of investments in mangrove conservation and restoration across Indonesia. Strategic allocation of conservation and restoration investments across districts can potentially significantly increase the economic viability of this nature-based solution.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2025.1459034/fullmangrovesnature based solutionscost-benefit analysisrestorationconservation
spellingShingle Boris van Zanten
Luke McKinnon Brander
Luke McKinnon Brander
Luke McKinnon Brander
Juan-Pablo Castaneda
Diego Herrera
David Kaczan
David Kaczan
Benjamin M. Brown
Ian Andrew Smith
Ian Andrew Smith
Brenden Jongman
Integrated spatial cost-benefit analysis of large-scale mangrove conservation and restoration in Indonesia
Frontiers in Environmental Science
mangroves
nature based solutions
cost-benefit analysis
restoration
conservation
title Integrated spatial cost-benefit analysis of large-scale mangrove conservation and restoration in Indonesia
title_full Integrated spatial cost-benefit analysis of large-scale mangrove conservation and restoration in Indonesia
title_fullStr Integrated spatial cost-benefit analysis of large-scale mangrove conservation and restoration in Indonesia
title_full_unstemmed Integrated spatial cost-benefit analysis of large-scale mangrove conservation and restoration in Indonesia
title_short Integrated spatial cost-benefit analysis of large-scale mangrove conservation and restoration in Indonesia
title_sort integrated spatial cost benefit analysis of large scale mangrove conservation and restoration in indonesia
topic mangroves
nature based solutions
cost-benefit analysis
restoration
conservation
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2025.1459034/full
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