Introduction

This research draws upon a series of interrelated studies designed to provide an improved cost-benefit analysis of a proposed conversion of land use out of conventional agriculture and into woodland. The analysis covers a number of diverse questions and is necessarily complex. Consequently a number of conclusions can be drawn. To simplify this process, we first review the achievements of this research before considering, in the subsequent section, the problems of the study and ongoing work. This is followed by our concluding comments.

Summary of research

As reviewed in the opening chapter of this volume, woodland produces a variety of market-priced and non-market benefits and costs. The first phase of this research was concerned with monetary valuation of one of the principal non-market benefits, woodland recreation. Given the open-access nature of this good, which produces no internal return to the land-owner but is of significant social value, we were forced to rely upon non-market valuation methods. Chapter 2 reviewed these methods, highlighting the theoretical appropriateness of both the contingent valuation (CV) and travel cost (TC) techniques. The chapter also provided a theoretical analysis of the values elicited by these methods.

Chapter 3 opened with an appraisal of UK applications of these methods to the valuation of woodland recreation. This review raised a number of interesting issues; for example, studies failed to identify any significant link between recreational values and tree species.