Details:

Journal Title:
Ecological Economics
Personal Author:
Grafeld, Shanna ; Oleson, Kirsten ; Barnes, Michele ; Peng, Marcus ; Chan, Catherine ; ... More +
Grafeld, Shanna ; Oleson, Kirsten ; Barnes, Michele ; Peng, Marcus ; Chan, Catherine ; Weijerman, Mariska Less -
NOAA Program & Office:
CoRIS (Coral Reef Information System)
Description:
Coral reefs are increasingly threatened despite being essential to coastal and island economies, particularly in the Pacific. The diving industry relies on healthy reefs and can be positively and/or negatively impacted by ecological change. Quantifying divers' ecological preferences that influence economic outcomes can help inform managers and justify conservation. Utilizing non-market valuation, we assess SCUBA divers' preferences for ecological attributes of coral reef ecosystems in Guam, estimate WTP for coastal and watershed management, and investigate drivers influencing preferences. A discrete choice experiment grounded in ecosystem modeling reveals divers prefer reefs with greater ecological health (higher fish biomass, diversity, and charismatic species). Individuals with stronger environmental values expressed stronger ecological preferences. Fish biomass improvement from low (< 25 g/m2) to high (> 60 g/m2) was worth >$2 million/year. The presence of sharks and turtles together was the preeminent attribute, worth $15–20 million/year. Divers are willing to voluntarily contribute ($900thousand) towards watershed sediment-reduction projects that could benefit divers by improving reef conditions. Few policies are in place worldwide collecting fees from divers for coral reef management, and none in Guam. Our results suggest that understanding divers' preferences and the drivers behind them may assist managers in designing policies that capture divers WTP and create partners in conservation.
Keywords:
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Economics And Econometrics General Environmental Science
Source:
Ecological Economics, 128, 202-213
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.05.005
ISSN:
0921-8009
Format:
PDF
Publisher:
Elsevier BV
Document Type:
Journal Article
Rights Information:
Accepted Manuscript
Compliance:
Library
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:fbf01ff098d011da5f7647024260c6eb12076217f79d0a63fefa4d31cb05c878
Download URL:
https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/57584/noaa_57584_DS1.pdf
File Type:

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