Steven Rochelle, Smart James C R, Morrison Clare, Castley J Guy
Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Gold Coast campus, Queensland, 4222, Australia.
Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Nathan campus, Queensland, 4111, Australia.
Conserv Biol. 2017 Aug;31(4):818-827. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12849. Epub 2017 May 29.
Conservation of biodiversity, including birds, continues to challenge natural-area managers. Stated-preference methods (e.g., choice experiment [CE]) are increasingly used to provide data for valuation of natural ecosystems. We used a CE to calculate birders' willingness to pay for different levels of bioecological attributes (threatened species, endemic species, and diversity) of birding sites with hypothetical entry fees. The CE was delivered at popular birding and avitourism sites in Australia and the United Kingdom. Latent-class modeling results revealed heterogeneous preferences among birders and correspondingly variable willingness to pay. Four clear groups were apparent: quantity-driven birders, special-birds seekers, confused respondents, and price-is-no-object birders. Quantity-driven birders were attracted to sites that deliver high levels of diversity and endemic species for which they were willing to pay $135 and $66 to visit, respectively, above what they were willing to pay to visit a site with low levels of diversity and few endemic and threatened species . Special-bird seekers valued threatened species and high levels of endemic species most (willingness to pay $45 and $46, respectively). Confused respondents' preferences were difficult to determine, but they were the most sensitive to the hypothetical entry fees, unlike the price-is-no-object birders, who were not at all sensitive to cost. Our findings demonstrate that birders are amenable to paying for their preferred birding experience. These payments could provide an alternative source of funding in some avitourism sites on both public and private land. Such alternative revenue streams should be explored and given full consideration in increasingly competitive conservation-financing environments.
生物多样性保护，包括鸟类保护，仍然是自然区域管理者面临的挑战。陈述偏好法（如选择实验[CE]）越来越多地被用于为自然生态系统的估值提供数据。我们使用选择实验来计算观鸟者对于具有不同生物生态属性（濒危物种、特有物种和多样性）的观鸟地点支付不同假设入场费的意愿。该选择实验在澳大利亚和英国的热门观鸟及鸟类旅游景点进行。潜在类别建模结果显示观鸟者之间存在异质性偏好，相应地支付意愿也有所不同。明显有四个清晰的群体：数量驱动型观鸟者、珍稀鸟类探寻者、困惑的受访者以及价格不敏感型观鸟者。数量驱动型观鸟者被具有高多样性和特有物种数量多的地点所吸引，他们愿意分别支付135美元和66美元去参观这样的地点，高于他们愿意支付去参观一个多样性水平低且特有和濒危物种少的地点的费用。珍稀鸟类探寻者最看重濒危物种和高数量的特有物种（分别愿意支付45美元和46美元）。困惑的受访者的偏好难以确定，但他们对假设的入场费最为敏感，这与价格不敏感型观鸟者不同，后者对成本完全不敏感。我们的研究结果表明，观鸟者愿意为他们偏好的观鸟体验付费。这些费用可以在公共和私人土地上的一些鸟类旅游景点提供一种替代资金来源。在竞争日益激烈的保护融资环境中，应探索并充分考虑这种替代收入来源。
