Conservation and economic viability of nature reserves: An emergy evaluation of the Yancheng Biosphere Reserve

Evaluating the ecological and economic benefits of nature reserves in a fair way is a difficult problem confronting not only conservation scientists and managers but also governments and private land owners. Nature reserves and other social and economic land uses must be evaluated on an objective basis to provide an accurate measure of relative benefits for decision-making. The ecological and economic benefits of various land uses can be expressed in equivalent terms using emergy as a common denominator. Emergy synthesis is a biophysical, donor-based method of valuation that we used to assess the ecological-economic system of the Yancheng Biosphere Reserve (YBR) in North Jiangsu Province, China. In this paper, we introduce new emergy measures designed especially to capture the conservation value of natural lands, as well as a measure of the economic viability of nature reserves. The network structure of natural resources, economic production, and conservation activities in Yancheng reserve was examined and compared to the Maipo Nature Reserve (MNR) in Hong Kong, and a salt marsh ecological-engineering system also in Yancheng. This study showed that there is about a 10:1 return on the emergy invested by government in operating the Yancheng Biosphere Reserve, which is a major migratory stop-over and wintering site for the endangered red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis). Only 2.2% of the support for conservation in YBR comes from the private sector compared to 41.4% for MNR. One way to improve social self-sufficiency of the reserve is to develop ecotourism and private donors, which will increase economic vitality and mitigate the intense economic competition for reserve land.