This document summarizes a study examining the management of coastal ecosystem services in Catalonia, Spain. It discusses three main topics: 1) Jellyfish blooms along the Catalan coastline, finding that tourists are willing to pay €1.22 more per hour to visit beaches with lower risk of jellyfish outbreaks, totaling €322 million annually. 2) The development of offshore wind farms and their potential negative impacts on tourism. The study finds displacement of tourists to unaffected beaches may mitigate overall impacts. 3) The need for investment in real-time information systems about jellyfish blooms and other environmental conditions to better manage tourism and coastal resources.

1. MANAGING COASTAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN
CATALONIA: JELLYFISH BLOOMS, WIND-FARMS, AND
TOURISM
NUNES, P.A.L.D, LOUREIRO, M, PIÑOL, SASTRE, S, VOLTAIRE, L.

2. VECTORS
VECTORS is a European
Project (FP7) devoted to
improving our
understanding on how
marine ecosystems and
their goods and services
provided by the oceans are
changing. It also examines
the socio-economic impacts
as well as exploring
measures to reduce and
adapt to these changes

3. Case study:
Catalonia
Outbreaks: Jellyfish
Energy: Wind-farms
in relation to flows of Tourism

4. 0
15
30
45
60
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1981
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2011
2012
Frequency of News regarding Jellyfish Blooms in the main regional and national newspapers
LA VANGUARDIA (regional)
ELPAIS (national)
TOTAL

6. BIOPHYSICAL
STRUCTURE OR
PROCESS
(E.G.
VEGETATION
COVER OR NET
PRIMARY
PRODUCTIVITY)
FUNCTION*
(E.G. SLOW
WATER
PASSAGE,
BIOMASS)
ECOSYSTEMS &
BIODIVERSITY
SERVICE
(E.G. FLOOD-
PROTECTION,
PRODUCTS
BENEFIT(S)
(CONTRIBUTION
TO HEALTH,
SAFETY, ETC.) (ECON) VALUE
(E.G. WTP FOR
PROTECTION OR
PRODUCTS
HUMAN WELL-BEING
(SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT)
INSTITUTIONS & HUMAN
JUDGEMENTS DETERMINING
(THE USE OF) SERVICES
MANAGEMENT/
RESTORATION FEEDBACK BETWEEN
VALUE PERCEPTION AND
USE OF ECOSYSTEM
SERVICES
* SUBSET OF BIOPHYSICAL STRUCTURE OR PROCESS
PROVIDING THE SERVICE
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES:
LINK BETWEEN ECOLOGICAL
STRUCTURES, PROCESSES & WELFARE

7. PROVISIONING SERVICES
The products obtained
from ecosystems
Food provision:
a, Wild capture sea food
b, Farmed sea food
Biotic raw materials (non-
food):
a, Genetic resources
b, Medicinal resources
c, Ornamental resources
d, Other biotic raw
materials
Biotic raw materials:
a, Sea water
b, Minerals, aggregates
and fossil fuels
c, Energy
REGULATING SERVICES
The benefits from
regulation of ecosystem
processes
Air purification
Climate regulation
Disturbance prevention or
moderation
Regulation of water flows
Waste treatment and
assimilation
Coastal erosion prevention
Biological control
HABITAT SERVICES
Role of ecosystems in
providing space for
resident and migratory
species
Reproduction and nursery
service
Gene pool protection
CULTURAL SERVICES
Non-material benefits from
ecosystems
Leisure, recreation &
tourismAesthetic experience
Inspiration for culture, art
and design
Cultural heritage
Cultural diversity
Spiritual experience
Information for Cognitive
Development
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES:
LINK BETWEEN ECOLOGICAL
STRUCTURES, PROCESSES & WELFARE

8. VALUATION FRAMEWORK: TOTAL
ECONOMIC VALUE

9. VALUATION FRAMEWORK: TOTAL
ECONOMIC VALUE

10. BASED IN QUESTIONNAIRES
 644 Questionnaires
 Representing all different kind of beaches in
Catalonia
 Work days and Weekends
 4 months
 Previous Pilot study & Focus group for testing

11. CHOICE EXPERIMENT & CONTINGENT BEHAVIOUR
BASED IN QUESTIONNAIRES

12. Name
of the beach
Type of
Environment
Width (m) Lenght (m) Surface (m²) Risk of Jellyfish*
(%)
Blue Flag
Barceloneta Urban 40 600 24,000 7,07 Yes
De Bogatell Urban 32 625 18,676 12.96 Yes
De Sabanell Mixed 32 2380 75,921 0.75 Yes
De Blanes Urban 44 610 26,170 0.37 Yes
Gran de Palamòs Urban 55 990 48,650 9,52 No
De la Fosca Mixed 37 514 16,461 3,96 Yes
El Castell Natural 63 339 22,715 7,14 No
El Golfet Natural 17 75 1,277 5,58 No
CHOOSING THE BEACHES

13. CLOGITCLOGITCLOGITCLOGIT
Variable Coefficient Std. Err. P|z|>Z*
Risk of Jellyfish -0.349 0.049 0.000
Water 0.730 0.036 0.000
Environment 0.409 0.038 0.000
Nominal time 0.079 0.016 0.000
Nominal time^2 -0.001 0.000 0.000
WTP for Clogit per quantiles of traveling timeWTP for Clogit per quantiles of traveling timeWTP for Clogit per quantiles of traveling timeWTP for Clogit per quantiles of traveling time
Risk
Water
Environmen
t
First
Quantile
Second
quantile
Third
quantile
Fourth
quantile
3.74 min 3.25 min 2.13 min 0.59 min
7.84 min 6.81 min 4.46 min 1.24 min
4.39 min 3.82 min 2.50 min 0.69 min
Quantile Time
First quantile 5 minutes
Second quantile 10 minutes
Third quantile 30 minutes
Fourth quantile 180 minutes
CONDITIONAL LOGIT MODEL

14. RESULTS (1)
REDUCING RISK OFJELLYFISH ARRIVALS
 The improvement of the water quality ranks as first and
therefore it is interpreted as the most important factor when
choosing the beach
 The reduction of risk of jellyfish outbreaks ranks as important
as the improvement of beach infrastructure, including the
provision of parking lots, restrooms and libraries for the
children.

15. RESULTS (1)
REDUCING RISK OFJELLYFISH ARRIVALS
 According to our sample results the average income per hour of our
sample is €19.23
 Consumers are willing to pay in average additional €1.22 to move
from a beach with more than 5 days a week of outbreaks to another
beach with risk of jellyfish outbreak reduced to one day or two per
week
 We infer that this estimate of willingness to pay to avoid jellyfish
outbreaks goes up to €322 million/year.
 This amount corresponds to 19% of the tourism expenditures of the
Catalan population in 2012, and it expresses the significant welfare
gains associated with a reduction of jellyfish outbreaks in this area.

16. RESULTS (2) WINDMILLS
 There would be a negative impact of offshore windmills on
recreation demand for the Catalan coast. However, the likely
installation of offshore wind farms in some beaches would
result in a displacement of trips to other beaches in Catalonia
without wind farms rather than beaches outside Catalonia.
Thus, considering Catalonia as a whole, the negative impact of
the offshore wind farms project might be not significant
 At equal distance from the coast, low windmills density is
preferred to high windmills density, and, at equal windmills
density, windmills installed far from the coast are preferred to
those installed near the coast

17. POLICY PROPOSALS:
INVESTMENT IN REAL TIME INFORMATION

18. Thank you!
Barcelona, November 2013