scholarly journals Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Service Benefits and Welfare Impacts of Offshore Marine Protected Areas: A Study from the Baltic Sea

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 10121
Author(s):  
Kristīne Pakalniete ◽  
Heini Ahtiainen ◽  
Juris Aigars ◽  
Ingrīda Andersone ◽  
Aurelija Armoškaite ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Economic Valuation ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Welfare Impacts ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
Welfare Losses ◽  
The Baltic

Knowledge of ecosystem services (ES) and the benefits provided by offshore marine areas, including the welfare impacts from the establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) is still limited. In the present study we evaluated benefits from ES, citizens’ willingness-to-pay for potential changes in the provision of ES, and welfare losses to citizens due to restrictions on economic activities from establishing new offshore MPAs in Latvian waters. The scenarios for the economic valuation were based on analysing the supply of ES from the protected marine habitats, showing changes in the ES supply in policy relevant scenarios of the MPA size. Our study evaluates a wide array of ES delivered by offshore protected habitats and reveals that citizens’ willingness-to-pay for preserving habitats and ES supply exceeds their welfare losses from restrictions in economic activities. Our approach supports the prioritisation of habitat types according to their contribution to ES supply and benefits for citizens. The analysis can be complemented with spatial data regarding distribution of habitats, providing an opportunity to identify areas with the highest ES benefits to support marine protection and spatial planning.

scholarly journals Paying the price to solve fisheries conflicts in Brazil’s Marine Protected Areas

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priscila Lopes ◽  
Sebastian Villasante
Keyword(s):  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Contingent Valuation ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Contingent Valuation Method ◽  
Slight Tendency ◽  
Valuation Method ◽  
Fernando De Noronha

Ecosystems services (ES) provide food and recreation to humans, but are fast being degraded. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have been proposed as a way to protect some of these ES, but decisions regarding what gets protection and what gets consumed can be a source of conflicts. One such example is the Fernando de Noronha MPA (Brazil), where there is a conflict between shark-directed tourism and fishers who would like to access the no-take part of the MPA during part of the year. A contingent valuation method (Willingness to Pay) was used to ascertain if tourists would accept compensating fishers for not disturbing the sharks during a specific period of the year, by adding a symbolic increase in the taxes they already pay to either visit the island or to visit the no-take part of the MPA. Tourists were open to this alternative (67-71%), regardless of the fee being paid. However, there was a slight tendency to reject the fee when the tourists saw sharks during their stay, suggesting that a closer contact with these animals triggered a less sympathetic attitude towards fishers, probably because they start seeing fishers as wrongdoers, even if this is the worst choice for conservation. Although such a hypothetical payment was easily accepted by the majority of the tourists and could represent an affordable solution to conflicts, convincing those who reject such social compensation, especially if based on an irrational choice, would be an important step for sharks and for the MPA as a whole.

scholarly journals Artificial reefs and marine protected areas: a study in willingness to pay to access Folkestone Marine Reserve, Barbados, West Indies

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne E. Smith ◽  
Philip M. Wheeler ◽  
Magnus L. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Stated Preference ◽  
Marine Reserve ◽  
Artificial Reef ◽  
User Fees ◽  
Artificial Reefs ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Use Values

Artificial reefs in marine protected areas provide additional habitat for biodiversity viewing, and therefore may offer an innovative management solution for managing for coral reef recovery and resilience. Marine park user fees can generate revenue to help manage and maintain natural and artificial reefs. Using a stated preference survey, this study investigates the present consumer surplus associated with visitor use of a marine protected area in Barbados. Two hypothetical markets were presented to differentiate between respondents use values of either: (a) natural reefs within the marine reserve or (b) artificial reef habitat for recreational enhancement. Information was also collected on visitors’ perceptions of artificial reefs, reef material preferences and reef conservation awareness. From a sample of 250 visitors on snorkel trips, we estimate a mean willingness to pay of US$18.33 (median—US$15) for natural reef use and a mean value of US$17.58 (median—US$12.50) for artificial reef use. The number of marine species viewed, age of respondent, familiarity with the Folkestone Marine Reserve and level of environmental concern were statistically significant in influencing willingness to pay. Regression analyses indicate visitors are willing to pay a significant amount to view marine life, especially turtles. Our results suggest that user fees could provide a considerable source of income to aid reef conservation in Barbados. In addition, the substantial use value reported for artificial reefs indicates a reef substitution policy may be supported by visitors to the Folkestone Marine Reserve. We discuss our findings and highlight directions for future research that include the need to collect data to establish visitors’ non-use values to fund reef management.

Fishermen responses on marine protected areas in the Baltic cod fishery

Marine Policy ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petri Suuronen ◽  
Pekka Jounela ◽  
Vesa Tschernij
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Baltic Cod

scholarly journals Ecological coherence of Marine Protected Areas: New tools applied to the Baltic Sea network

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 743-760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per R. Jonsson ◽  
Per‐Olav Moksnes ◽  
Hanna Corell ◽  
Erik Bonsdorff ◽  
Martin Nilsson Jacobi
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Ecological Coherence

scholarly journals Abundance and Diversity of Holothuroids in Shallow Habitats of the Northern Red Sea

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boaz Yuval ◽  
Lee Sudai ◽  
Yarden Ziv
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Sea Cucumbers ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
Human Use ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Northern Red Sea

Holothuroid sea cucumbers are vital members of Coral Reefs and associated marine habitats and provide vital ecological services. In the southern regions of the Red Sea their populations have been decimated by overfishing. The main objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that the northern part of the Red Sea serves as an ecological refuge for the species threatened farther to the south. Accordingly, populations of sea cucumbers in 4 shallow sites south of Eilat, Israel (29°33′00N 34°57′14E), were repeatedly surveyed from November 2013 to April 2014. Overall 11 species were observed in these shallow sites. Their abundance and diversity differed significantly between sites, but not temporally. In sites in marine protected areas, with an intact fringing reef, diversity was high, withHolothuria edulisandBohadschiasp. being the most common species. In areas with higher human use and characterized by rubble and scattered corals, diversity was low, andActinopyga bannwarthiwas the most common species. The observed abundance and diversity did not support the refuge hypothesis. These findings are discussed in relation to other surveys of abundance and diversity in similar habitats.

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