Preface

This book was written jointly with my graduate students during the 2023 Winter semester. It is about the natural asset values of a number of lakes in the unceded land of the Secwepemc People and the annual flow of ecosystem services they provide to the communities. The book evolved from a graduate course I started teaching two years ago in the Master of Science in Environmental Economics and Management at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. The course is entitled Valuation Methods for Cost-Benefit Analysis and builds on the Foundations of Cost-Benefit Analysis course. In this course, students explore advanced techniques to assess nature and the impacts it experiences using methods such as benefit transfer, hedonic pricing, experimental design, contingent valuation, choice experiments, and market estimation (e.g., defensive expenditures, travel costs, and shadow pricing).

Last year, my graduate students explored the value of a number of Kamloops parks, from the smallest Prince Charles Park to the largest Kenna Cartwright Nature Park (Tsigaris et al., 2022). The value of these parks was estimated at CDN $3.8 billion, with a yield in terms of ecosystem services they provide at CDN $133 million per year. The Kenna Cartwright Nature Park, the largest urban park in British Columbia, has an estimated value of CDN $3 billion. On a per capita basis, Kenna Cartwright Nature Park represents an asset worth CDN $30,000 to each Kamloops resident. The annual flow of ecosystem services of the Kenna Cartwright Park was estimated at CDN $45 million and assumed to rise by two percent yearly (Truscott & Tsigaris, 2022).

A similar study was conducted by Sutton and Anderson (2016). Sutton and Anderson placed a value on the iconic New York Central Park and its ecosystem services. A real estate appraisal firm assessed the 341-ha park at $500 billion as an opportunity cost of the land not being developed. Sutton and Anderson (2016) assumed a 5% yield from the asset, thus providing annual ecosystem services worth $25 billion each year to the community. According to BC Assessment (2023), the value of Kamloops housing and commercial buildings is estimated at $24 billion as of 2022 and can be compared to the value of parks. When all parks around Kamloops are included, their valuation could easily exceed CAD 24 billion. As assets, parks provide regulating, maintaining, supporting, and cultural services. They provide opportunities for tourism, recreation and culture, air quality regulation, and habitat for plants and animals. Valuations of nature are high because they account for the interaction of social, natural, human, and built capital. Value does not mean commodification but measuring a form of capital preserved for the benefit of its people.

My past work in this area includes exploring the factors underlying public support and willingness to pay to preserve the agricultural land reserve (ALR) in British Columbia (Androkovich et al., 2008). The ALR, established in 1973, encompasses 4.76 million hectares. The reserve aims to preserve agricultural land for farm use and to establish and maintain family farm businesses (Agricultural Land Commission Act). We distributed a contingent valuation survey to elicit peoples’ preferences towards preservation across the province (Androkovich et al., 2008). After analyzing 267 surveys, we found that British Columbians know “the economic importance of British Columbia’s agriculture sector,” and they place importance on the preservation of ALR to ensure that local food production is maintained” and “to protect the environment” (Androkovich et al., 2008). The view “to protect the environment” makes sense since most of the ALR is in northern rural areas of the province. Provincewide, people were willing to pay to maintain the land reserve, with a conservative estimate of CAD 91.18 million per year. For further reading, Tsigaris (2014) provides a critique of introducing Bill 24 for the ALR.

In this book, I asked my students to conduct a study by selecting a lake within the Secwépemcul’ecw territory and around the city of Kamloops to write a chapter in this book about the lake’s value. There are around 70 lakes surrounding Kamloops, but this project has selected a few cases to examine. They discuss the lake’s geophysical structure, history, name origin, Indigenous values, environmental and ecological concerns, and its valuation in terms of ecosystem services that the lake provides and its value as a natural asset. The students submitted drafts throughout the semester, and I provided feedback to improve their research. This review process improves their research and the final output (Tsigaris, 2021).

Given that the lakes are located on the unceded land of the Secwepemc people, Secwépemcul’ecw, which covers a vast area in the south-central part of British Columbia, I asked my students to include a discussion on Indigenous values. In their language, the word Kw’seltktnéws means that we are all related and interconnected with nature (Ignace & Ignace, 2017). The Secwepemc’s ceremonies, language, legends, and rituals deeply connect to nature. Shuswap Lake and other lakes provide food, spirituality, and history (Ignace & Ignace, 2017). The Secwepemc people take only what they require from the lakes, protecting the ecosystem and passing on sustainability knowledge to future generations. However, industrialization, pollution, and climate change threaten our lakes, and we, the settlers, can learn from the Secwepemc people about environmental protection and sustainability to conserve these vital water systems for future generations.

Dr. Panagiotis (Peter) Tsigaris

June 10, 2024

References

Agricultural Land Commission Act, SBC 2002, c 36. https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/02036_01

Androkovich, R., Desjardins, I., Tarzwell, G., & Tsigaris, P. (2008). Land preservation in British Columbia: An empirical analysis of the factors underlying public support and willingness to pay. Journal of Agriculutral and Applied Economics, 40(3), 999–1013. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1074070800002479

BC Assessment. (2023). Property assessment information. https://www.bcassessment.ca/

Ignace, M., & Ignace, R. E. (2017). Secwépemc people, land, and laws: Yerí7 re stsq’ey’s-kucw (Vol. 90). McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Sutton, P. C., & Anderson, S. J. (2016). Holistic valuation of urban ecosystem services in New York City’s Central Park. Ecosystem Services, 19, 87–91, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2016.04.003

Truscott, J., & Tsigaris, P. (2022). Assessing the value of a park in a rural-urban fringe zone: A case study of Kenna Cartwright Nature Park in the interior of British Columbia. Journal of Rural and Community Development, 17(3), 62–81. https://journals.brandonu.ca/jrcd/article/view/2081

Tsigaris, P. (2014, April 26). British Columbians willing to pay more tax to stop development of ALR, research shows. ArmchairMayor.ca. https://armchairmayor.ca/2014/04/26/british-columbians-willing-to-pay-more-tax-to-stop-development-of-alr-research-shows/

Tsigaris, P. (2021). Formalized journal-style review process: Improving the quality of students’ work. Frontiers Education, 6(701978). https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.701978

Tsigaris, P., Abubakar, L., Ajani, A., Bhardwaj, S., Ibekwe, A., Kaur, A., Rahman, S. F., Shemo, U., Taghiyev, R., Truscott, J., & Waithe, D. (2022). A study of the value of Kamloops parks. Thompson Rivers University. https://kamloops-parks.pressbooks.tru.ca/