To construct a readable book from a PhD thesis is a rare achievement. To do so by bringing some clarity to the role that economics plays in ecosystem management is even more impressive. This is a book that sparks ideas: seemingly intractable topics are unravelled and put together in logical order. It will also be useful for teaching: I will be recommending it to my ‘Economics for Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ class.

The book starts with two ‘economic’ chapters – the first covers efficiency, ecosystem services and valuation of services. The second outlines what the author, perhaps unfortunately, calls a ‘framework’ (is this just another, alternative framework?) that puts forward a case for a combined environment / economic approach to quantifying the effects of different ecosystem management options. Three subsequent chapters demonstrate the framework in: i) forestry management, ii) eutrophication control and iii) rangeland management. There is some lack of precision in the second chapter about economic effects: the phrase ‘. . . establishing the amount of pollution loading where the pollution and abatement costs are minimised’ is not a welfare maximizing economic result (ban nitrogen fertilizer in Bangladesh?). A better definition of economic efficiency is given in the final chapter, in the discussion of cost benefit analysis – ‘the. . . efficient option is the option that provides maximum net benefits. . . including the benefits of all services supplied by the ecosystem and the costs involved in providing or accessing these services.’

In conclusion, the book is successful because it provides, not a framework, but something better: a path for the novice to follow; something that brings together the relevant considerations when judging environmental management options and policies.