There is an ongoing debate about the impacts of nature conservation policy on the economy. Ecologic has been commissioned by the European Environmental Agency (EEA) to assess whether a measurement of these effects on an European level is feasible. Various methodologies are evaluated in order to determine a best practice methodology for a larger scope study.

Rural areas in Europe tend to be characterised by lack of economic diversity, relatively high unemployment rates, and marginalised land. Although there has been debate in the past regarding the benefits of nature conservation to an area, regional park surveys from various countries have shown positive economic impacts.  Nature reserves positively impact communities through increased employment and tourism spending.  Parks directly create additional jobs, helping to diversify the employment sector.  Furthermore, visitor spending injects much needed money into the local economy, thus creating more jobs through increased demand on goods and services.

The objective of this report is to investigate previous case studies to determine which indicators are used when analysing economic impacts of regional parks.  Additionally, various calculation methodologies have be considered to determine best practice. 

A special focus has been drawn on the comparison between top-down and bottom up approaches. While top-town approaches use statistical data and Input-Output-Tables, bottom-up approaches are based on case-studies where effects have been directly measured by means of survey data collected at local level.

The ultimate goal is to determine whether a European wide Study is feasible.