Tseng William Wei-Chun, Hsu Shu-Han, Chen Chi-Chung
Department of Applied Economics, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Department of Applied Economics, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2015 Dec 30;101(2):556-65. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.10.058.
Coral reefs constitute the most biologically productive and diverse ecosystem, and provide various goods and services including those related to fisheries, marine tourism, coastal protection, and medicine. However, they are sensitive to climate change and rising temperatures. Taiwan is located in the central part of the world's distribution of coral reefs and has about one third of the coral species in the world. This study estimates the welfare losses associated with the potential damage to coral reefs in Taiwan caused by climate change. The contingent valuation method adopted includes a pre-survey, a face-to-face formal survey, and photo illustrations used to obtain reliable data. Average annual personal willingness to pay is found to be around US$35.75 resulting in a total annual willingness to pay of around US$0.43 billion. These high values demonstrate that coral reefs in Taiwan deserve to be well preserved, which would require a dedicated agency and ocean reserves.
珊瑚礁构成了生物生产力最高、生物多样性最丰富的生态系统，并提供各种产品和服务，包括与渔业、海洋旅游业、海岸保护和医药相关的产品和服务。然而，它们对气候变化和气温上升很敏感。台湾位于世界珊瑚礁分布的中心区域，拥有世界上约三分之一的珊瑚物种。本研究估算了气候变化对台湾珊瑚礁造成潜在破坏所带来的福利损失。所采用的条件价值评估法包括一次预调查、一次面对面的正式调查以及用于获取可靠数据的照片说明。研究发现，个人年均支付意愿约为35.75美元，因此年总支付意愿约为4.3亿美元。这些高额数值表明台湾的珊瑚礁值得妥善保护，而这需要一个专门机构和海洋保护区。
