This study aimed to determine an economic value1 of seven marine and coastal ecosystem services in Kiribati. It is part of the MACBIO (Marine and Coastal Biodiversity Management in Pacific Island Countries) project, which aims to improve the management of marine and coastal biodiversity in Pacific Island countries.
Marine and coastal ecosystems provide important benefits for society and contribute to the livelihoods, food security and safety of millions of people around the world. These benefits (called ecosystem services) are often not visible in national accounts or in business operations; their value is usually only perceived when they are lost. Assigning monetary
values to ecosystem services makes the ecosystem service benefits more visible and contributes to improving their wise use and management. The seven ecosystem services addressed in this report are subsistence fisheries, commercial fisheries, aggregate and mineral mining, tourism and recreation, coastal protection, carbon sequestration and research,
management and education.
