What’s Nature Worth to You?
Yadin Gindin grew up on a kibbutz near Rehovot. He always loved nature, being outdoors, and swimming in springs and rivers. He had planned to study chemistry, but when he heard about the Environmental Economics & Management (EEM) program at the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the Hebrew University, he decided to enroll. He saw the combination of economics and the environment as a practical way to protect nature.
After completing his BSc summa cum laude, he continued to graduate studies, hoping to broaden his horizons from economics to include the environment. Today, Yadin is a second-year MSc student in the Agriculture, Natural Resources & Environment program. Working under the supervision of Prof. Aliza Fleischer and Prof. Yacov Tsur, he is designing a dynamic model of Israel’s water economy
“What makes the Robert H. Smith Faculty a unique academic setting is its ability to provide both a top-notch educational experience while also being a friendly, accessible, and warm environment. Beyond my classes and research, campus is simply a fun and charming place to be, a pastoral environment to pursue one’s degree. It’s truly one of its kind.”
The theoretical grounding for Yadin’s thesis is the notion of ecosystems services, which puts a price tag on services that nature provides, including provisions with a market value (e.g., fish caught) and services without a price tag (e.g., water purification, recreational activities).
As with any economy, the issue is supply and demand. Households, industry, and agriculture all vie for their share of the supply, which in Israel’s case includes rainfall, desalinated water, and reclaimed wastewater. Yet Yadin’s research adds something new to the mix: nature. By focusing on the economic value of water in nature (i.e., ecosystem services), it becomes possible to determine better water allocation policy.
Yadin will readily admit that we usually evaluate nature in qualitative terms: how it makes us feel, its beauty. Yet by placing an economic value on water allocated to nature, it becomes possible to incorporate this external (environmental) effect within a comprehensive model of water allocation and pricing for the benefit of all.