Opportunity cost estimates for spatial conservation prioritisation across terrestrial Europe

Area of Science:

• Environmental Economics
• Conservation Science
• Spatial Analysis

Background:

• Opportunity costs of conservation are vital for cost-effective land-use decisions.
• Existing pan-European data on opportunity costs are limited in resolution and scope.
• High-resolution data are needed for effective conservation prioritization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create a high-resolution, pan-European dataset of land opportunity costs.
• To estimate opportunity costs for arable, pastoral, forestry, and urban land uses.
• To support broad-scale European conservation prioritization analyses.

Main Methods:

• Estimated opportunity costs for productive lands using land/resource rent, yield, and commodity price data.
• Allocated costs to a 1 km grid across Europe.
• Estimated urban land opportunity costs using residential rents and population density data.

Main Results:

• Developed a 1 km European opportunity cost layer (€/ha/yr).
• Urban land exhibits the highest opportunity costs.
• Arable, pastoral, and forestry lands follow in descending order of opportunity cost.

Conclusions:

• The new dataset provides crucial high-resolution opportunity cost data for Europe.
• Understanding these costs is essential for optimizing conservation investments.
• The layer is particularly valuable for large-scale conservation planning and prioritization.