Valuating ecosystem services of coastal wetlands through an interdisciplinary educational experience

Coastal wetlands are vital habitats for human well-being because their ecosystem services are affected by multiple factors. In the quest to reduce the vulnerability of these valuable ecosystems for human beings, education is fundamental to facilitate analysis and answer questions. This paper presents an educational experience of the economic evaluation of El Culebrón Wetland (Coquimbo, Chile) to support decision-makers with new tools and arguments. Real-world experimentation was necessary to stimulate reflection in graduate students on complex problems and proposed solutions that challenged them to consider the different variables and beliefs involved in ecosystem services to put economic theory into practice. A study was developed based on an interdisciplinary educational experience based on two non-conventional methods of economic valuation: Contingent Valuation (CV) and Defensive Expenditure estimation (DE). The results of the 20-year valuation were US$ 5,750,000 (CV) and US$ 3,050,009 (DE). This experience is innovative and promising, allowing the estimation of the economic value of wetlands and reflecting on the opportunities and complexities involved in applying these methodologies. The study concludes that ethical questions were faced from the perspective of balancing economic, social, and environmental issues in pursuing sustainable development.