Social values of biodiversity conservation for the endangered loggerhead turtle and monk seal

The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) and the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) are two species on the priority list for conservation in Greece due to their dwindling populations worldwide. Hence the issue of estimating willingness to pay for their conservation is germane to any protection initiative. Zakynthos Island in Greece has created a marine park for the conservation of such species. We report the results of a survey of visitors and residents of this island who were asked about making one-time donations in the form of either a tax for residents or a plane landing fee for tourists. We find that all people were willing to pay to protect these species; however, residents were willing to pay more than tourists. We then tested whether there was a sequence or ordering effect if the seal questions came before the turtles as well as if the turtle questions came before the seals. Such effect was found when turtle questions were presented first, but not when seal questions were presented first. Due to the extensive interest, it is recommended that an increase in the airplane landing fee to Zakynthos could be used to contribute towards funds for loggerhead turtle and monk seal protection

Considerations of Socio-Economic Input, Related Challenges and Recommendations for Ecosystem-Based Maritime Spatial Planning: A Review

Socio-economics in an ecosystem-based Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) process cover a wide range from specifying socio-economic objectives, respective indicators, organising stakeholder engagement, to data, methods and tools (e.g., environmental valuation and cost-benefit analysis) for example to identify issues, assess ecosystem services, provide an insight on human behaviour and compare alternative marine plans with potentially competing goals. In addition, social principles such as that of social equity have an important role to play in achieving sustainability in marine management. However, the use of socio-economics in making the ecosystem-based MSP framework operational, poses certain challenges to researchers, regulators and policy-makers. The purpose of this paper is first to present a brief overview of socio-economic input needs, with a special emphasis on the role of environmental valuation related to ecosystem services as a mean to integrate the ecosystem approach into marine planning and management, and related challenges as identified by planners and researchers. Then, conclusions and recommendations are offered overall regarding socio-economic input and in particular environmental valuation. Finally, it is noted that although, the focus of the paper is mainly European, most of the issues discussed apply equally to other locations

The economic value of improvements in the ecology of Irish rivers due to the water framework directive

Following the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) integrated catchment management plans must be prepared for all river basins, in order to achieve 'good ecological status' (GES) in all EU waters. This concept is a broader measure of water quality than the chemical and biological measures, which were previously dominant in EU water policy. The Directive also calls for a consideration of the economic costs and benefits of improvements to ecological status in catchment management plans, along with the introduction of full social cost pricing for water use. In this thesis, the primary focus is on the use of the Choice Experiment (CE) method. The CE method is reviewed and then used to estimate the value of improvements in a number of components of ecological status on two Irish waterways (the Boyne and the Suir). Apart from CE method another stated preference approach to environmental valuation is also considered; the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). This thesis determines what value the targeted population of the two catchments place on the nonmarket economic benefits of moves towards GES by employing both approaches and various model specifications, while the applicability of Benefit Transfer (BT) method is also assessed under different tests. In addition, the design of the questionnaire used in the survey stage of the research, offered the possibility of investigating issues related to the effect of cognitive ability and psychometric factors on choice. Respondents with discontinuous preferences are identified and analysis is conducted to investigate the implications of not accounting for these preferences. Finally, due to experiencing protesting behaviour by a proportion of the sampling population an attempt is made to investigate the parameters that contributed to this inclination

Respondent Certainty and Payment Vehicle Effect in Contingent Valuation: an Empirical Study for the Conservation of Two Endangered Species in Zakynthos Island, Greece

This paper focuses on providing evidence of what explains respondent certainty by assessing at the same time the sensitivity of the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to payment vehicle effect. Two different samples were collected from local residents and foreign visitors of the Zakynthos Island in Greece and a split-sample approach was employed. The elicited conservation values concerned two endangered species, the loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta and the monk seal, Monachus monachus. In terms of policy implications, the stated Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) values confirmed that there is a potential for a range of internal funding options, which could sustain the future operation of the existing National Marine Park of Zakynthos (NMPZ). From a methodological point of view, the study explores the determinants of self-reported certainty with regard not only to different payment modes but also to attitudinal and socio-economic variables and adds evidence to the debate about the validity of CVM by testing the presence of a payment vehicle effect. The results show evidence of sensitivity of the method to the mode of payment and reveal a relationship between the chosen payment vehicle and respondents’ degree of certainty

Estimating the value of achieving "Good Ecological Status" in the Boyne River Catchment in Ireland using choice experiments

Following the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD), integrated catchment management plans must be prepared for all river basins in order to achieve "Good Ecological Status" (GES) in all EU waters. This concept is a broader measure of water quality than the chemical and biological measures which were previously dominant in EU water policy. The directive also calls for a consideration of the economic costs and benefits of improvements to the water bodies' ecological status in catchment management plans, along with the introduction of full social cost pricing for water use. In this paper, the Choice Experiment (CE) method of valuation is used to estimate the value of improvements in a number of components of ecological status in the Boyne river catchment in Ireland. The study determines what value the targeted population of the catchment place on the non-market economic benefits of moves towards GES. In addition, the effect of various factors of observed individual heterogeneity on choice is explored

A Micro-Econometric Approach to Deriving Use and Non-Use Values of in-situ Groundwater: The Vosvozis Case Study, Greece.

The present study attempts to estimate the shadow price of unextracted groundwater in the Vozvozi aquifer. In the context of this study, we model the production function of vertically integrated agricultural firms in terms of an input-oriented distance function with multiple inputs. Duality theory is employed in order to extract information regarding the in situ shadow price of groundwater. This shadow price is of vital importance to the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive and EU groundwater Directive, because it allows per farm estimation of the value of groundwater. It also allows the calculation of the level of cost recovery when resource’s environmental and resource costs are also considered. In this context, groundwater dependent ecosystems are of great relevance. In our case study, flow both from groundwater and from the Vosvozis river discharges into Ismarida Lake, an extremely important ecosystem protected by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Furthermore, in the coastal part of the study area a system of coastal lagoons is formed, where surface, groundwater and seawater interact. All the area of Ismarida lake and the coastal lagoons forms an extremely important ecosystem. Groundwater level decline induces recharge from Vosvozis River and Ismarida lake, diminishing thus an important source for the life of the wetland ecosystem. Another threat due to groundwater level decline is the intrusion of seawater in the wetland area, causing thus a serious alteration in the initial character of this protected ecosystem. This study, apart from the estimation of the level of resource’s cost recovery, will offer the opportunity to compare individual farmer’s valuation of the marginal unit of groundwater in the aquifer with the socially optimal shadow price of in situ ground-water reported in the relevant literature. Conclusions will aim to provide policy recommendations for a water pricing that provides adequate incentive for users to use groundwater resource efficiently considering groundwater dependent ecosystems

A Choice Experiments Application in Transport Infrastructure: A Case Study on Travel Time Savings, Accidents and Pollution Reduction

This paper presents the results of a Choice Experiment (CE) conducted to estimate the values derived from a highway construction project in Greece. To account for preference heterogeneity conditional logit with interactions and random parameter logit models are estimated. The results indicate that individuals have significant values for travel time savings, percentage decrease in traffic accidents, percentage decrease in traffic related emissions and landscape modifications. Models where the attributes are interacted with socioeconomic variables perform better and produce lower welfare estimates compared to models without interactions with important implications for cost benefit analysis

A Choice Experiments Application in Transport Infrastructure: A Case Study on Travel Time Savings, Accidents and Pollution Reduction

This paper presents the results of a Choice Experiment (CE) conducted to estimate the values derived from a highway construction project in Greece. To account for preference heterogeneity conditional logit with interactions and random parameter logit models are estimated. The results indicate that individuals have significant values for travel time savings, percentage decrease in traffic accidents, percentage decrease in traffic related emissions and landscape modifications. Models where the attributes are interacted with socioeconomic variables perform better and produce lower welfare estimates compared to models without interactions with important implications for cost benefit analysis

A Micro-Econometric Approach to Deriving Use and Non-Use Values of in-situ Groundwater: The Vosvozis Case Study, Greece.

The present study attempts to estimate the shadow price of unextracted groundwater in the Vozvozi aquifer. In the context of this study, we model the production function of vertically integrated agricultural firms in terms of an input-oriented distance function with multiple inputs. Duality theory is employed in order to extract information regarding the in situ shadow price of groundwater. This shadow price is of vital importance to the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive and EU groundwater Directive, because it allows per farm estimation of the value of groundwater. It also allows the calculation of the level of cost recovery when resource’s environmental and resource costs are also considered. In this context, groundwater dependent ecosystems are of great relevance. In our case study, flow both from groundwater and from the Vosvozis river discharges into Ismarida Lake, an extremely important ecosystem protected by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Furthermore, in the coastal part of the study area a system of coastal lagoons is formed, where surface, groundwater and seawater interact. All the area of Ismarida lake and the coastal lagoons forms an extremely important ecosystem. Groundwater level decline induces recharge from Vosvozis River and Ismarida lake, diminishing thus an important source for the life of the wetland ecosystem. Another threat due to groundwater level decline is the intrusion of seawater in the wetland area, causing thus a serious alteration in the initial character of this protected ecosystem. This study, apart from the estimation of the level of resource’s cost recovery, will offer the opportunity to compare individual farmer’s valuation of the marginal unit of groundwater in the aquifer with the socially optimal shadow price of in situ ground-water reported in the relevant literature. Conclusions will aim to provide policy recommendations for a water pricing that provides adequate incentive for users to use groundwater resource efficiently considering groundwater dependent ecosystems

The value of scientific information on climate change: a choice experiment on Rokua esker, Finland

This article presents an application of the choice experiment method in order to provide estimates of economic values generated by water quantity improvements in the environment. More importantly, this is the first choice experiment study valuing scientific information and in particular scientific information on climate change. The case study of interest is Rokua in Northern Finland, a groundwater dependent ecosystem very sensitive to climate change and natural variability. The study deals with the uncertainty about the actual dynamics of the system and the effect of future climate change by exploring whether the public values sustained provision of resources for scientific research to better understand long-term environmental changes in Rokua. Data are analysed using a nested multinomial logit and an error component model. Evidence from this study suggests that individuals are willing to pay in order to assure scientific research so as to better understand long-term environmental changes. As a result, policy should consider investing in and supporting related research. Other aspects of water management policy valued by the public are water quantity, recreation, and total land income. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the European Union via the 7th Framework Program GENESIS: Groundwater and dependent ecosystems: New Scientific basis on climate change and land-use impact for the update of the EU Groundwater Directive; WP-6 Groundwater systems management: scenarios, risk assessment, cost-efficient measures and legal aspects. We finally thank two anonymous referees for constructive and insightful comments Koundouri, P.; Kougea, E.; Stithoua, M.; Ala-Ahob, P.; Eskelinenb, R.; Karjalainenc, T.; Klove, B.... (2012). The Value of Scientific Information on Climate Change: A Choice Experiment on Rokua esker, Finland. Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy. 1(1):85-102. doi:10.1080/21606544.2011.647450 Senia 85 102 1