Valuing Ecosystem Services Economists around the world have been criticized for their quest to label ecosystem services. Allocating funds for the management and protection of these resources involves difficult decision-making for resource managers. These decisions are purely economic decisions and therefore depend on societal values, implicitly or explicitly. Thus, economic values ​​help to judge and justify the priorities given to certain programs, policies or actions intended to restore or protect ecosystem services. Factors that Complicate Ecosystem Management Decisions Ecosystem decisions are complicated by the various types of market failures associated with the environment. and natural resources. Market failures occur when markets fail to reflect the full costs and benefits associated with a good. For example, the price of gasoline does not reflect its total costs in terms of pollution, its effects on the environment and the other negative externalities it costs society. Reasons for market failures associated with ecosystems include: • Ecosystems provide the public ...