Assessing and Valuing Ecosystem Services in the Ankeniheny-Zahamena Corridor (CAZ), Madagascar

Conducted as a demonstration study for Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) in Madagascar, this analysis provides an in-depth assessment of the contribution of key ecosystem services from the Ankeniheny-Zahamena Forestry Corridor (CAZ), the largest remaining contiguous patch of humid forest in eastern Madagascar. 

State-of-the-art methods were utilised in this analysis to address the complex nature of ecosystem service provision as well as different uses of ecosystem services as inputs to economic sectors such as agriculture, mining, tourism, and hydroelectricity. Designed and implemented as a pilot study, this analysis focuses on three ecosystem services—carbon storage and sequestration, water supply, and sediment retention. The analysis entails three related components:

• A biophysical analysis, with an assessment and mapping of physical flows of selected ecosystem services;
• An economic analysis, where an economic valuation of the services was performed; and
• A policy analysis, where results of the biophysical and economic analysis were synthesised and discussed.