they are then asked to conserve resources and avoid environmental degradation
(Mackenzie, 1993; Reed, 1992; 1996). Political as well as economic forces come
into play, and are often difficult to separate. Differences in style and capacity of
government also give rise to divergent valuation (Cairncross, 1995: 35). As
mentioned in earlier sections, where the benefits of environmental protection, and
the expenditure to achieve it, accrue slowly and benefit those yet to be born and those in a different country, people often question the costs. Attempts to apply
economic valuation to environmental problems in developing countries have been
examined by Georgiou et al. (1997). The potential value of biodiversity from
developing countries was mentioned in the last chapter. Swanson and Barbier
(1992: 3) and Polasky (2002) provide some estimated market values in the mid
1980s for things like wild perennial maize, which is of huge value to crop breeders
and could be worth billions of dollars.