What are we missing? Economic value of an urban forest in Ghana

The ecosystem services of urban forests are under threat in Ghana due to continuous conversion of urban green spaces into other land uses. The loss of urban forests is contributing to decreases in resilience and increases in vulnerability of urban dwellings to flooding and windstorms. Investing in management of urban forests and including them in urban development planning is critical and can only be pursued if economic value of urban forest services are properly assessed and appreciated. In this paper the Contingent Valuation Method is used to estimate the economic value of non-market benefits of an urban forest in Ghana. Using Cost-Benefit Analysis, the monetary value of the urban forest in the course of time was estimated. The stated monetary value of the urban forest was found to be US$694,765.50. The Net Present Value of the urban green space was US$2,786,620.65. The estimated economic value covered nine times the 10-year maintenance cost of the urban green space. As a seminal work on economic valuation of a standing urban forest in Ghana, it is envisaged that the results will inspire further research in this field, and demonstrate the need for investment in creation and management of urban forests.