International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade
Abstract
Perhaps the most undervalued, yet critically important ecosystem services are related to socio-cultural values tied to the non-material benefits that arise from human-ecosystem relationships, such as bequest. Bequest values linked to natural ecosystems can be particularly significant for indigenous communities, whose livelihoods and cultures are often closely tied to ecological structures and functions. In this study we apply a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to determine indigenous fishers' preferences and willingness-to-pay for bequest gains from local management actions in a locally managed marine area in Madagascar. We validate and discuss our results by employing a unique rating and ranking game and other mixed methods. We find that bequest is highly valued and considerably important, with respondents indicating willingness to pay a substantial portion of their income to protect ecosystems for future generations. Through all of our inquiries bequest emerged as having the highest priority, even when respondents were forced to make difficult trade-offs among other provisioning and regulating ecosystem services which directly and indirectly support their livelihoods. This study is among the first to quantify bequest values, and among a relative few to apply a DCE to model trade-offs and value ecosystem service flows in a developing country context, thereby making an important contribution to the field of environmental valuation. Our results also directly inform marine and coastal management in Madagascar and elsewhere by providing crucial information on the often overlooked socio-cultural value of bequest in comparison to other ecosystem service benefits.Keywords: Fisheries Management, Social Performance and Management, Fisheries Economic
