Spatial Valuation of forests’ environmental assets: an application to andalusian silvopastoral farms

We develop a model that estimates spatially-allocated environmental asset values for the simultaneous provision of seven ecosystem services. We examine the effect of heterogeneous spatial and economic factors on the environmental asset figures, at the same time we identify potential forestry abandonment problems when continuing with forestry activity is unprofitable for the landowner. Our results show a relevant spatial variability that depends on heterogeneous biophysical factors, such as forest species distribution and structure. We examine the likely trade-offs between forestry provisioning services, water and carbon sequestration services. The results also point towards the significant effect of economic assumptions about discount rates and prices on environmental asset values and the prediction of the forestry activity abandonment.