Economic valuation of ecosystem services in the Carpish Montane Forest (Peru): a meta-regression benefit transfer approach
Abstract
Tropical montane forests provide essential ecosystem services that sustain human well-being and socioeconomic development, including provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services. However, the absence of systematic economic valuation limits the incorporation of these services into public policy, territorial planning, and conservation investment decisions. This research estimates the total economic value of ecosystem services provided by the Carpish Montane Forest Regional Conservation Area, located in the Huánuco region of Peru, through the application of a meta-regression model and the benefit transfer method. An international database was constructed using 221 peer-reviewed studies compiled from the Ecosystem Services Valuation Database (ESVD), yielding 920 valid valuation observations. A log-linear meta-regression model was estimated to use Ordinary Least Squares with HC3 robust standard errors. The model incorporated per capita income, ecosystem area, and ecosystem service categories as explanatory variables. The results indicate an income elasticity greater than one (β ≈ 1.041), indicating that ecosystem services behave as income-elastic environmental goods. In contrast, ecosystem area showed a negative and statistically significant scale effect, suggesting decreasing marginal values as the spatial extent increases. The application of the transfer function to the Carpish Montane Forest Regional Conservation Area (50,559.21 ha) produced an estimated average annual value of 4,527.52 USD ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, equivalent to an aggregated annual economic value of approximately USD 228.9 million. These findings highlight the substantial contribution of montane ecosystems to regional welfare and environmental sustainability. The results provide empirical evidence to support conservation policies, territorial planning, and the implementation of economic instruments such as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) in Peru.