95 research outputs found
Are Preferences for Environmental Quality Sensitive to Financial Funding Schemes? Evidence from a Marine Restoration Programme in the Black Sea
No full textThis paper uses a non-market valuation study to elicit consumers’ preferences for a marine restoration programme in the Black Sea aiming to reduce the level of public health risk from bathing and improve water quality and the overall level of marine biodiversity. In this context, we administer a stated choice experiment in coastal settlements in Ukraine and Turkey and employ two tax revenue reallocation schemes as payment vehicles. One proposes the financing of the marine restoration programme by the reduction of the public budget for renewable energy and the second by the reduction of the public budget on training for civil servants. We examine the stated preferences and the subsequently derived economic value estimates in the two treatments with the aim to investigate whether the trade-off implied by the funding scheme has implications for the valuation outcome. Results reveal that preferences and marginal rates of substitution between the non-price attributes under consideration differ significantly. In the civil servants’ budget reallocation scheme, the reallocation coefficient is positive, implying that ceteris paribus redistribution of public financial resources from this source is utility-enhancing. The magnitude of the results differs in the two considered countries mirroring their heterogeneity in political and cultural dimensions.Non-Market Valuation; Stated Choice Experiment, Payment Vehicle, Tax Revenues Reallocation, Marine Resources, Black Sea, Marine Biodiversity, Developing Countries
The case for offshore wind farms, artificial reefs and sustainable tourism in the French Mediterranean
No full textAs the French government strives to achieve their offshore renewable energy target, the impact of offshore wind farms on coastal tourism in the Languedoc Rousillon is now being questioned. To assess this issue, a choice experiment was undertaken to elicit tourist preferences for wind turbines at different distances from the shore. We also examined whether potential visual nuisances may be compensated by wind farm associated reef-recreation or by adopting a coherent environmental policy. The findings indicate that age, nationality, vacation activities and their destination loyalty influence attitudes toward compensatory policies. Two policy recommendations are suggested. First, everything else being equal, wind farms should be located 12 km offshore. Second, and alternatively, a wind farm can be located from 5 km and outwards without a loss in tourism revenues if accompanied by a coherent environmental policy and wind farm associated recreational activities.
Herd prevalence of Salmonella spp. in Danish pig herds after implementation of the Danish Salmonella Control Program with reference to a pre-implementation study
No full textThe problems addressed are: (1) comparison of prevalences of Salmonella spp. in different herd types in the Danish pig population after implementation of the Danish Salmonella Control Program (DSCP), and (2) to make a reference to a study from 1993/1994 (pre-implementation) with a discussion of possible biases when diagnostic methods differ slightly. The objectives were to present the prevalences of Salmonella spp., Salmonella Typhimurium, and multiresistant S. Typhimurium DT104 in Danish pig herds in 1998. Further, to discuss how herd prevalences may be compared to a previous study. A bacteriological study in 1998 comprised: (a) a random sample of slaughter pig producing herds (N = 1962); (b) a random sample of farrow-to-grower (sow) herds (N = 305); an
A balancing act: principles, criteria and indicator framework to operationalize social-ecological resilience of forests
No full textAgainst a background of intensifying climate-induced disturbances, the need to enhance the resilience of forests and forest management is gaining urgency. In forest management, multiple trade-offs exist between different demands as well as across and within temporal and spatial scales. However, methods to assess resilience that consider these trade-offs are presently lacking. Here we propose a hierarchical framework of principles, criteria, and indicators to assess the resilience of a social-ecological system by focusing on the mechanisms behind resilience. This hierarchical framework balances trade-offs between mechanisms, different parts of the social-ecological system, ecosystem services, and spatial as well as temporal scales. The framework was developed to be used in a participatory manner in forest management planning. It accounts for the major parts of the forest-related social-ecological system and considers the multiple trade-offs involved. We demonstrate the utility of the framework by applying it to a landscape dominated by Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) in Central Europe, managed for three different management goals. The framework highlights how forest resilience varies with the pursued management goals and related management strategies. The framework is flexible and can be applied to various forest management contexts as part of a participatory process with stakeholders. It thus is an important step towards operationalizing social-ecological resilience in forest management systems
Understanding heterogeneity of social preferences for fire prevention management
No full textThe forest area burnt annually in the European Mediterranean region has more than doubled since the 1970s. In these forests, the main preventive action consists of forest compartmentalization by fuel break networks, which entail high costs and sometimes significant negative impacts. While many studies look at public preferences for fire suppression, this study analyses the heterogeneity of social preferences for fire prevention. The visual characteristics of fire prevention structures are very familiar to respondents, but their management is unfamiliar, which raises specific attention in terms of analysing preference heterogeneity. A random parameter logit model revealed large heterogeneity and preference for traditional heavy machinery, maintaining linear unshaded fuel breaks at a high density. A latent class model showed that this may be reflected by a third of the population preferring lighter machinery and shaded irregular fuel breaks; a quarter of the population not treating the budget constraint as limiting, another quarter only being worried about the area burnt and the remaining group being against everything. Finally, a discrete mixture model revealed extreme preference patterns for the density of fuel breaks. These results are important for designing fire prevention policies that are efficient and acceptable by the population
Moving (back) to greener pastures? Social benefits and costs of climate forest planting in Norway
No full textNorway is considering a national afforestation program for greenhouse gas sequestration on recently abandoned semi-natural pastureland. However, the program may have negative impacts on landscape aesthetics and biodiversity. We conducted a nation-wide choice experiment survey to estimate non-market values, combined with secondary data on program costs and other impacts, to derive the social net return on land use scenarios. Our results indicate that the scenarios where either half of the abandoned pastures are recovered, or half of the pastures are recovered, and a quarter are designated to the climate forest program, yields the highest net present value. The net present value of all land use scenarios remains positive when limiting the aggregation of willingness to pay to rural households, and when allowing for potential hypothetical bias in benefit estimates and cost increases. Results indicate that landscape and biodiversity values are substantial and should be considered when designing agricultural and climate policies.publishedVersio
Farmers' willingness to provide ecosystem services and effects of their spatial distribution
No full textThe supply of ecosystem goods and services is spatially heterogeneous and the provision of such goods and services is also influenced by landowners' willingness to provide. This is particularly the case in countries such as Denmark where many properties are privately owned. However, little attention has previously been given to the relationship between farmers' willingness to provide a good or service and the spatial heterogeneity associated with their demand. In this study farmers' willingness to participate in afforestation contracts are investigated using a choice experiment of various contracts with the purpose to provide: groundwater protection, biodiversity conservation or recreation. We employ a random parameter logit model to analyse the relationship between farmers' preferences for afforestation purposes and the spatial variables; groundwater interests, species richness, human population density, forest cover and hunting. The results show that increasing human population density significantly increases farmers' required compensation with respect to recreational activities. Furthermore, there is a significant effect of hunting which decreases compensation required by the farmers to enter an afforestation project. The share of groundwater and forest cover does not significantly influence preferences. We conclude that spatial variations should be considered when designing conservation policies (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Public support for conserving bird species runs counter to climate change impacts on their distributions
No full textThe authors acknowledge the Danish Council for Independent Research, Social Science for financial support (Grant no. 75-07-0240) and the Danish National Research Foundation for support to the Centre for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate.There is increasing evidence that global climate change will alter the spatiotemporal occurrences and abundances of many species at continental scales. This will have implications for efficient conservation of biodiversity. We investigate if the general public in Denmark are willing to pay for the preservation of birds potentially immigrating and establishing breeding populations due to climate change to the same extent that they are for native species populations currently breeding in Denmark, but potentially emigrating due to climate change. We find that Danish citizens are willing to pay much more for the conservation of birds currently native to Denmark, than for bird species moving into the country - even when they are informed about the potential range shifts associated with climate change. The only exception is when immigrating species populations are under pressure at European level. Furthermore, people believing climate change to be man-made and people more knowledgeable about birds tended to have higher WTP for conservation of native species, relative to other people, whereas their preferences for conserving immigrant species generally resembled those of other people. Conservation investments rely heavily on public funding and hence on public support. Our results suggest that cross-country coordination of conservation efforts under climate change will be challenging in terms of achieving an appropriate balance between cost-effectiveness in adaptation and the concerns of a general public who seem mostly worried about protecting currently-native species.Peer reviewe
Promoting biodiversity values of small forest patches in agricultural landscapes : ecological drivers and social demand
No full textSmall forest patches embedded in agricultural (and peri-urban) landscapes in Western Europe play a key role for biodiversity conservation with a recognized capacity of delivering a wide suite of ecosystem services. Measures aimed to preserve these patches should be both socially desirable and ecologically effective. This study presents a joint ecologic and economic assessment conducted on small forest patches in Flanders (Belgium) and Picardie (N France). In each study region, two contrasted types of agricultural landscapes were selected. Open field (OF) and Bocage (B) landscapes are distinguished by the intensity of their usage and higher connectivity in the B landscapes. The social demand for enhancing biodiversity and forest structure diversity as well as for increasing the forest area at the expenses of agricultural land is estimated through an economic valuation survey. These results are compared with the outcomes of an ecological survey where the influence of structural features of the forest patches on the associated herbaceous diversity is assessed. The ecological and economic surveys show contrasting results; increasing tree species richness is ecologically more important for herbaceous diversity in the patch, but both tree species richness and herbaceous diversity obtain insignificant willingness to pay estimates. Furthermore, although respondents prefer the proposed changes to take place in the region where they live, we find out that social preferences and ecological effectiveness do differ between landscapes that represent different intensities of land use. Dwellers where the landscape is perceived as more “degraded” attach more value to diversity enhancement, suggesting a prioritization of initiatives in these area. In contrast, the ecological analyses show that prioritizing the protection and enhancement of the relatively better-off areas is more ecologically effective. Our study calls for a balance between ecological effectiveness and welfare benefits, suggesting that cost effectiveness studies should consider these approaches jointly.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
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