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The potential contribution of ecotourism to African wild dog Lycaon pictus conservation in South Africa
Abstract
African wild dogs are endangered, and in South Africa as elsewhere, they inhabit a fraction of their former range. In this study, we assessed the potential for economic benefits derived from ecotourism to offset the costs of three wild dog conservation options using a contingent valuation study of the willingness of visitors to four protected areas to pay to see wild dogs at the den – within a viable population in a large protected area (Kruger National Park), through reintroduction into nature reserves, and through the conservation of wild dogs occurring on ranchland in situ. Results indicated that tourism revenue from wild dogs in large protected areas is more than sufficient to offset the costs and could potentially be used to subsidise wild dog reintroductions or the conservation of wild dogs in situ on ranchland. On ranchland and for reintroductions, tourism revenue was generally predicted to offset most of the costs of conserving wild dogs where predation costs are low, and to exceed the costs where willingness to pay is high, and/or where the costs of predation by wild dogs are zero. Conservation efforts should facilitate the derivation of eco-tourism-related benefits from wild dogs on ranchland and in private reserves to create incentives for wild dog conservation. Ecotourism should be part of a multifaceted approach to wild dog conservation which also includes education and awareness campaigns, and efforts to encourage landowners to cooperate to form conservancies.
... These reserves often engage in conservation efforts such as anti-poaching measures, habitat restoration, and reintroduction programs. In addition, wildlife ranching can provide economic incentives for local communities to engage in conservation efforts, such as through eco-tourism and sustainable use of natural resources (Lindsey et al., 2005). Moreover, wildlife ranching can also promote sustainability by conserving natural resources such as water and land and minimising environmental impacts through responsible land management practices. ...
... Eco-tourism can provide a sustainable source of revenue for wildlife ranching operations while promoting conservation efforts and supporting local communities (Lindsey et al., 2005). This can include safari tours, lodging, and other experiences that showcase the natural beauty and wildlife of South Africa. ...
Abstract
Wildlife ranching is a significant industry in South Africa, contributing to conservation, economic growth, and sustainable development. Spanning over 20 million hectares, it supports biodiversity preservation, including the successful recovery of species like the white rhinoceros. The industry generates diverse products such as game meat, leather, and eco-tourism experiences, appealing to local and international markets. Challenges, including ethical concerns, habitat management, and financing barriers, necessitate sustainable practices and robust regulations. Financing options, such as private investment, government incentives, blended finance, and eco-tourism revenues, are essential for growth and conservation. Despite hurdles, wildlife ranching presents a promising opportunity to merge conservation with economic benefits, fostering sustainability and community development in South Africa.
... Different mega-fauna and threatened or invasive species are discussed in relation to their tourist-recreational use on private land. Especially hunting tourism and human-wildlife-conflicts are emphasized (Cousins, Sadler, and Evans 2008;Garbett et al. 2018;Gusset et al. 2008;Lindsey et al. 2005;Lindsey et al. 2011). The tension between wildlife for recreational hunting (tourism), on the one hand, and protecting livestock from depredation, on the other, is a central concern in C3. ...
... The ecosystem service approach to conservation and tourism/recreation is prevalent here too. Thus, economic valuation of private conservation initiatives in relation to tourism activities (cultural ecosystem service) is applied in various studies (Baum, Cumming, and de Vos 2017;Clements and Cumming 2017;Lindsey et al. 2005;Lindsey et al. 2011;Mathevet and Mesl eard 2002;van der Merwe and Saayman 2003). ...
Private engagement has always been central to biodiversity conservation. Recently, the role of private enterprises in (eco)tourism have increased, and private lands play a pivotal role in expanding protected areas within societies throughout the world. This paper contributes to discussions of private engagement in conservation and its relation to tourism (recreation generally), with novel insight on how the conservation-tourism nexus on private land is approached in different geographical contexts. We present a systematic literature review that results in five thematic clusters characterized by different conservation approaches to tourism in Global North and South. Research concerning Global South tends to emphasize (eco)tourism as a main inducement for conservation, while research concerning Global North emphasizes expansion of private protected areas where access for tourist-recreational use has to be compensated. We propose a future research agenda to exploring environmentally and socially just approaches to conservation and recreation in both Global North and South.
... Access to public recreational sites is usually subject to minimum user fees which are well below the willingness to pay of most site users (Krüger 2005;Lindsey et al. 2005). Lower user fees for domestic visitors can be partly due to moral concerns or fear that some segments of the society will be unfairly alienated from the market. ...
... Numerous CVM applications have been undertaken to elicit the recreational value of national parks in developing countries (see, for example, Chase et al. 1998;Dikgang and Muchapondwa 2012;Hadker et al. 1997;Lindsey et al. 2005;Moran 1994;Navrud and Mungatana 1994;Navrud and Vondolia 2005;Shultz, Pinazzo, and Cifuentes 1998). Tourists are typically asked if they would still consider visiting the park if the cost of their trip was US$t higher and the level of t varies across the respondents. ...
The increasing pressure within developing countries to focus on other national objectives has led to declining fiscal transfers for conservation. This paper assesses the potential for a typical large African park such as the Kruger National Park to generate additional revenue through an entrance fee hike in order to finance park operations. This is investigated by estimating international tourists’ willingness to pay (WTP) for possible future visits. The estimated WTP is substantial, ranging from 255 per trip and 94 million per year for all international tourists. Using a non-parametric survival function to calculate the consumer surplus that could be extracted from tourists, we show that park authorities can increase total revenue by 57% to 61% (40 million) per year. These findings indicate that unique African parks such as the Kruger National Park can contribute to African economies through revenues from increased entrance fees.
... Tal y como se ha manifestado en la literatura, el MVC es una herramienta de preferencias declaradas que permite asignar valor monetario a los bienes y servicios ambientales para los cuales los precios de mercado pueden no existir, mediante la creación de un mercado hipotético mejor del actual (Barbier et al., 1997;Iranah et al., 2018;Nuva et al., 2009). A través de encuestas, las personas expresan su Disposición a Pagar (en adelante, DAP) por los cambios en la cantidad o calidad de esos bienes o servicios (Iranah et al., 2018;Maldonado et al., 2018;Mitchell & Carson, 1989;Lindsey, Alexander, Du Toit & Mills, 2005;Nuva et al., 2009;Maciejewski & Kerley, 2014;Platania & Rizzo, 2018); es decir, expresan la cantidad máxima que no sólo están dispuestos a renunciar de sus ingresos, sino dispuestos a pagar para obtener un beneficio (Nuva et al., 2009;Samdin, 2008). ...
... El cobro de tarifas de entrada a las áreas protegidas combina la oportunidad de ofrecer una visita atractiva del espacio para el ecoturismo y, por tanto, de proporcionar satisfacción a los visitantes, al tiempo que afronta el desafío de conservar el paisaje y su patrimonio natural y cultural (Nuva et al., 2009). A esto se añaden otros beneficios potenciales como son los de medir el valor ambiental en términos monetarios; diversificar los ingresos del ecoturismo, que a menudo se concentran en el sector privado; proporcionar una fuente estable de ingresos que no esté infravalorada; o controlar el acceso a visitantes para mitigar el daño ecológico asociado a la presión antrópica (Murphy et al., 2018;Nuva et al., 2009;Peters & Hawkins, 2009;Schuhmann et al., 2019), aunque a esta última afirmación también se le atribuye un efecto negativo cuando se tiene en cuenta el impacto sobre la economía local (Peters & Hawkins, 2009 (Sudáfrica) determinaron la disposición a pagar por ver perros salvajes y compensar sus costes de conservación (Lindsey et al., 2005); o en el área protegida del Lago Hulun (China), examinaron la disposición de los turistas a pagar por los recursos ecoturísticos del área (Pengwei & Linsheng, 2018). ...
Ecotourism is a key sector to promote protected areas self-financing, and the entry fee is one of the main tools that generate funds for the management and conservation of those areas. As far as it is known, there is not enough research on analyzing the economic potential of an entry fee in ecotourism-open protected areas in Colombia, neither the amount that visitors would be willing to pay for the goods nor services the protected areas provide. The objective of this study is to determine the willingness to pay to access Los Flamencos Fauna and Flora Sanctuary and to contribute to the conservation of the ecotourist resources. A sample of 67 visitors was obtained and Contingent Valuation Method was applied. The study also looks into the profile, preferences and satisfaction analysis of the tourists after visiting the Sanctuary. Results show that individual tourists’ willingness to pay is on average COP 15,000 ($ 6.30). This amount would be translated into a total benefit of 115 million COP (48 million USD) if entry fee were applied. This study provides useful information to demonstrate the financial viability of payment tools as part of the development and strengthening strategies of bird watching-based community ecotourism in Colombian protected areas.
... Economic sustainability: Wild Dogs are expensive to sustain in small protected areas due to high prey consumption (abetted by their use of fences to hunt; . Ecotourism benefits must outweigh the costs at sites where economic benefits are the driver for reintroduction (Lindsey et al. 2005). ...
... Only the much larger game ranches and private reserves should be seen to be areas where Wild Dogs will be tolerated. This tolerance level also decreases dramatically during denning season when Wild Dogs do not move over large distances while there are pups.Reduce persecution of this species through holistic management techniques and economic ventures that offset the costs of their predation, such as Wild Dog-based ecotourism(Lindsey et al. 2005). ...
... They are mainly distributed in parts of eastern and southern Africa. In the past few decades the habitat of African wild dog has been drastically reduced, and the population quantity has declined significantly [1]. Research suggests that there are many reasons for the sharp decline in the distribution and number of African wild dogs, which may include conflicts with humans, habitat loss, persecution and competition with other predators, genetic diversity of infectious diseases, and inbreeding depression [2]. ...
... Orbital asymptotically stability of the order-one periodic orbit of system (1) Thus our theoretical results show that releasing the African wild dogs in captivity to the wild is effective for protecting African wild dog population with Allee effect and continuous delay. Therefore, when protecting African wild dogs, we can determine the survival threshold, have African wild dogs in captivity, and monitor the wild populations (the initial value). ...
Allee effect (i.e. sparse effect) is active when the population density is small. Our purpose is to study such an effect of this phenomenon on population dynamics. We investigate an impulsive state feedback control single-population model with Allee effect and continuous delay. We first qualitatively analyze the singularity of this model. Then we obtain sufficient conditions for the existence of an order-one periodic orbit by the geometric theory of impulsive differential equations for the survival of endangered populations and obtain the uniqueness of an order-one periodic orbit by the monotonicity of the subsequent function. Furthermore, we prove the orbital asymptotic stability of an order-one periodic orbit using the geometric properties of successor functions to confirm the robustness of this control. Finally, we verify the correctness of our theoretical results by using some numerical simulations. Our results show that the release of artificial captive African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) can effectively protect the African wild dog population with Allee effect.
... Despite their ecological and economic importance, large carnivore populations have declined globally due to factors such as habitat destruction, urbanization, and poaching [6,7]. This decline has led to cascading effects at the ecosystem level [8,9]. ...
The Asiatic lion (Panthera leo leo), a flagship species of conservation significance, has expanded its range beyond the Gir protected areas into multi-use landscapes, including the coastal regions of Saurashtra, Gujarat, India. This study examines the dietary patterns of Asiatic lions in this unique coastal region. Using scat analysis, we identified the prey species consumed and quantified their contributions to the lions’ diet. Results indicate that the lions predominantly consumed wild prey, such as Boselaphus tragocamelus, Sus scrofa, and Axis axis, which together constituted 64% of their diet. Domestic prey contributed 31%. In terms of biomass, wild prey accounted for 70%, with Boselaphus tragocamelus alone contributing 51%. The dietary niche breadth, calculated using Levin’s index, was 0.36, suggesting a relatively specialized diet. This study underscores the importance of prey abundance and habitat structure in shaping lion predation patterns. Lions’ reliance on wild prey, particularly Boselaphus tragocamelus and Sus scrofa, highlights their crucial role in the coastal region. Additionally, the inclusion of domestic prey, such as feral cattle, may reflect their high availability and reduced anti-predator behaviors. These findings emphasize the need for robust prey population monitoring and habitat conservation to ensure the long-term survival of Asiatic lions in the coastal region.
... Bien qu'ils soient parfois une source de conflit avec les populations humaines, les prédateurs comprennent certaines des espèces les plus charismatiques et les plus connues du monde (Dalerum et al., 2008). Elles offrent des perspectives économiques importantes à travers l'écotourisme, voire pour la chasse commerciale aux trophées (Lindsey et al., 2005(Lindsey et al., , 2007. Les crocodiliens sont à la fois les plus grands prédateurs et les plus grands habitants de nombreux écosystèmes aquatiques (Somaweera et al., 2020). ...
Global biodiversity is under extreme pressure, marked by a significant increase in species extinctions over the last 300 years and a decline in most vertebrates over the last five decades, mainly due to human activities. Crocodilians are also concerned, with 50% of their species categorized as threatened. Consequently, it is essential to improve the effectiveness of conservation programs. This thesis contributes to broadening and deepening knowledge of conservation approaches and population inventory methods, with a particular focus on crocodilians. Through community-based conservation, I emphasize the importance of involving indigenous peoples and local communities in conservation projects and considering their social, economic and environmental viewpoints. Reconciling conservation and development objectives increases the chances of success and sustainability. My work has also led to the development of a standardized method for monitoring crocodilians using drones. This efficient, non-invasive methodology is suitable for crocodilian species found in open environments. This technology, accessible to a wide range of users, including indigenous peoples and local communities, promotes their empowerment and the protection of ecosystems. This work offers new perspectives for conservation by combining community involvement and technological advances, for a more effective, inclusive and sustainable approach.
... Studies focusing on Africa have used a range of valuation methods, including contingent valuation, choice experiments, and travel cost method, to assess the economic value of various environmental assets. For instance, contingent valuation has been used to value the economic benefits of wetlands, forests, and wildlife, while choice experiments have been used to assess the economic benefits of biodiversity conservation and ecotourism (Lindsey et al., 2005;Navrud & Vondolia, 2005;Swallow & Woudyalew, 1994). Additionally, the travel cost method has been used to value the economic benefits of national parks and other protected areas (Twerefou & Ababio, 2012). ...
... Marker et al., 2003). Our results also denote that for the authority to foster carnivore's protection in southern Patagonia, they must find participatory approaches including all actors and stakeholders (see Lindsey et al., 2005;Gebresenbet et al., 2018), considering fundamentally supporting the adoption and management of guardian dogs and assisting ranchers facing livestock losses. ...
... Ecotourism is a key mechanism for supporting PAs' capacity to mitigate the declines in African fauna (e.g. African wild dogs in South Africa, Higginbottom & Tribe, 2004;Lindsey et al., 2005), while also providing resources for communities to engage in non-extractive livelihoods (Nyaupane & Poudel, 2011). Beyond merely enabling alternative livelihoods, ecotourism may even improve livelihoods: for example, Snyman (2014) interviewed community members in six southern African countries and found that ecotourism was key to providing employment in rural areas. ...
... Predators can affect CHAPTER 9 the density and dynamics of prey species, with cascading effects on whole ecosystems (Beschta & Ripple, 2006;Ripple & Beschta, 2007;Wallach, Johnson, Richie & O'Neill, 2010). Large predators, for example, African wild dogs, are also important tourist attractions (Lindsey, Alexander, du Toit & Mills, 2005a). The removal of large predators from an ecosystem may have many unexpected consequences, which from an ecosystem services perspective, can often be negative. ...
This assessment provides a policy relevant synthesis on the topic of livestock predation and its management in South Africa, as well as recommendations for future research.
See also https://predsa.mandela.ac.za/
... Pangolin-related ecotourism was preferred by all stakeholder groups except conservation organisations and rangers. Ecotourism can benefit conservation, including promoting local support for conservation (Diedrich, 2007;Lindsey et al., 2005;Stronza et al., 2019). Although the contributions of ecotourism to the survival of threatened species have been shown to outweigh associated costs in most cases (Buckley et al., 2016), such programs must be carefully developed to minimise adverse effects on biodiversity: reduction in species richness through increased trail use (Lei et al., 2022), degradation of habitat through infrastructure development and zoonotic disease transfer (Shannon et al., 2017). ...
The overexploitation of biological resources severely threatens many species, requiring urgent and effective conservation interventions. Such interventions sometimes require governance structures that incorporate pluralist perspectives and collaborative decision‐making, especially in complex, multi‐faceted and multi‐scale issues like the illegal trade in pangolins.
We used Q‐methodology to provide evidence to inform interventions for pangolin conservation in south‐east Nigeria. We sampled stakeholder groups associated with pangolin use and protection, including hunters, wild meat traders and Nigeria Customs Service employees, to elicit their opinion and knowledge on the use and perceptions of pangolins and their preferences for interventions to reduce pangolin decline.
We found that the local consumption of pangolin meat as food is the primary driver of poaching in the region. This contradicts popular opinions that pangolins are specifically targeted for international trade, revealing an opportunity for site‐level behaviour change interventions. The different stakeholder groups identified awareness‐raising campaigns, law enforcement, community stewardship programs and ecotourism as preferred interventions, whose effectiveness we attempted to assess using reported case studies.
We observed different perspectives between people associated with pangolin poaching and use (predominantly those living around pangolin habitats, including hunters and wild meat traders) and those working to protect them (such as conservation organisations and Nigeria Customs Service employees). For example, the first group supported community stewardship programs, while the latter preferred awareness‐raising and law enforcement efforts. This divergence in perspectives underpins the need for a combination of targeted interventions at the site level to engage different stakeholders while highlighting the potential challenges to collaborative decision‐making for species threatened by illegal wildlife trade.
Policy implications. Our results stress the importance of targeted and context‐specific conservation interventions.
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... Ao et al. [33] used the CVM to evaluate the non-use value of wetlands in Sanjiang Plain, and they calculated that the non-use value of wetlands in Sanjiang Plain was 2.4638 billion CNY/a. Based on CVM, Wang et al. [34] constructed three fuzzy evaluation models for the ecological service value of coastal wetlands, and the results showed that the three models had a high degree of consistency in their estimations. With the continuous improvement and perfection of CVM research methods, this method has been widely used in other research fields, from research on natural resources to research on species protection [35] , construction waste [36] , medical science [37] , livestock reduction policy [38] , air passenger transport [39] , resource satellite [40] and other non-natural resource value. ...
... Several researchers have also found that the revenue of ecotourism could collaborate with the development of environmental conservation Picard, 2015;Taylor et al., 2015). Furthermore, other scholars have also identified that ecotourism assists in protecting reserve areas such as marine species, biodiversity, and spaces which is resulting in conserving the biodiversity in the regional area (Fung & Wong, 2007;Lindsey et al., 2005). Ecological stability and preservation are correlated directly to ecotourism to maintain the protection of natural resources and vibes. ...
This chapter sets the conceptual foundation for the book. It provides a background on the development of thought around social innovation, as well as eco-tourism. After introducing various definitions and concepts of social innovation and social entrepreneurship, it then goes on to develop a definition of eco-tourism social entrepreneurship. An analysis of the current state of the environment and tourism leads to the discussion of how eco-tourism and social entrepreneurship can transform the industry for the better. The chapter then describes how social entrepreneurship can effectively make changes to the economic and social systems that are no longer working in the world and tourism. The status of eco-tourism social entrepreneurship in industry, academia and education are then discussed. The final section of the chapter lays out the book's contents.
... The first step before certification starts in an area is the development of relevant site-specific standards and indicators for standard development (Bhattacharya, Kumari, 2004). There is a step towards tourism accommodation facilities globally, to be accredited by awarding eligible candidates, based on their overall results (Munn, 1992;Ceballos-Lascurain, 1996;Gössling, 1999; Lopez-Espinosa de Los Monteros, 2002;Tisdell, Wilson, 2002;Lindsey et al., 2005;Fung, Wong, 2007;Hassan, 2016). ...
Ecotourism is the fastest advancing and developing market within the tourism enterprise and with faster progress; it's leaving an acute impact on the ecosystem. One of the significant stakeholders that can promote sustainability is ecotourism accommodation providers. In order to minimize their carbon footprint and negative environmental effects, many hotels and resorts around the world have launched innovative cost-saving measures. The sustainability of a destination for ecotourism is partly dependent on the success of local eco-lodges and resorts. Certification has emerged as a strong instrument for helping to conserve natural resources and cultural heritage. The study was planned to develop performance management standard criteria and indicators (C&I) for eco-lodges and resorts in order to track sustainability and current eco-tourism activities in India. The main objective is to ensure the fulfillment of the goals of ecotourism and to evaluate the working standard that is practiced in different destinations. After the stakeholder consultation, the draft standard of criteria and indicators was developed and accompanied by a comprehensive primary survey. To test the parameters of C & I, a case study review was performed across 10 prominent eco-lodges in India, which are located near ecotourism destinations. The findings of the study include the natural, social and economic aspects, along with a set of 3 principles, 5 criteria, and 86 indicators to determine the sustainable functioning of eco-lodges and resorts. Implementation of the C & I on the resorts showed that only two resorts were fully fulfilling all the C & I showing their activeness toward better sustainable management of their operations Best practice examples from different hotels of different sizes, ownership, and locations across India are also mentioned in the paper. Such examples reflect green management initiatives that support local communities, protect natural resources and cultural practices, etc.
... For example, the development of ecotourism intentionally brings humans in contact with wildlife (Kight & Swaddle, 2011). Ecotourism is an increasingly popular industry which is an important income generator for many countries (Balmford et al., 2009;Lindsey et al., 2005;Terborgh et al., 2002;World Travel and Tourism Council, 2007) and considered by many a valuable means to encouraging and funding conservation (e.g., Jacobson & Lopez, 1992). Studies of primate ecotourism have highlighted obvious deleterious effects, including habitat degradation and pollution (Wilson et al., 2016) and the potential for human-primate disease transmission (McCarthy et al., 2009;Palacios et al., 2011), and more recently studies have focused on the impacts on primate behavior, specifically as a result of anthropogenic noise. ...
The risk-disturbance hypothesis states that animals react to human stressors in the same way as they do to natural predators. Given increasing human-wildlife contact, understanding whether animals perceive anthropogenic sounds as a threat is important for assessing the long-term sustainability of wildlife tourism and proposing appropriate mitigation strategies. A study of pygmy marmoset (Cebuella niveiventris) responses to human speech found marmosets fled, decreased feeding and resting, and increased alert behaviors in response to human speech. Following this study, we investigated pygmy marmoset reactions to playbacks of different acoustic stimuli: controls (no playback, white noise and cicadas), anthropogenic noise (human speech and motorboats), and avian predators. For each playback condition, we recorded the behavior of a marmoset and looked at how the behaviors changed during and after the playback relative to behaviors before. We repeated this on ten different marmoset groups, playing each condition once to each group. The results did not replicate a previous study on the same species, at the same site, demonstrating the importance of replication in primate research, particularly when results are used to inform conservation policy. The results showed increased scanning during playbacks of the cicadas and predators compared with before the playback, and an increase in resting after playbacks of avian predators, but no evidence of behavior change in response to playbacks of human speech. There was no effect of ambient sound levels or distance between the playback source and focal animals on their behavior for all playback conditions. Although we find that noise can change the behavior of pygmy marmosets, we did not find evidence to support the risk-disturbance hypothesis.
Supplementary information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10764-022-00297-9.
... Ecotourism is a key mechanism for supporting PAs' capacity to mitigate the declines in African fauna (e.g. African wild dogs in South Africa, Higginbottom & Tribe, 2004;Lindsey et al., 2005), while also providing resources for communities to engage in non-extractive livelihoods (Nyaupane & Poudel, 2011). Beyond merely enabling alternative livelihoods, ecotourism may even improve livelihoods: for example, Snyman (2014) interviewed community members in six southern African countries and found that ecotourism was key to providing employment in rural areas. ...
Ecotourism helps sustain protected areas (PAs) that in turn conserve Africa's declining fauna. Identifying ecotourist preferences and which species and landscapes benefit from ecotourism could therefore support African biodiversity conservation efforts. Due to historic associations with trophy hunting and subsequent ecotourism marketing efforts, ecotourist preferences have been thought to traditionally center around the ‘Big Five’: elephant, lion, buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros. But these preferences may be evolving. Here, we ask two questions, one about the drivers and one about the consequences of ecotourism: (1) Which species and landscapes do ecotourists most prefer based on realized visitation data? And (2), differently, which species and landscapes benefit most from ecotourism? We gathered data on average annual tourist visits, the occurrence of nine mammals, bird species richness, forest cover, national wealth, local human population and accessibility for 164 Sub‐Saharan African PAs. To address our first question, we used a Bayesian multivariable model to identify whether bird and megafaunal diversity explain visits to PAs while controlling for other factors. To address our second question, we used Bayesian univariate models to analyze the relationships between park visitation and each species/landscape. We found that tourist preferences extend beyond the Big Five to include bird diversity. We also observed that ecotourism may be well suited to conserve bird diversity, lion, cheetah, black and white rhinoceros, African wild dog and giraffe species. Collectively, our results may help inform how to leverage ecotourism to conserve African fauna.
... Furthermore, while carnivores have high public appeal among urban residents, they are often in direct conflict with local communities. There are, however, opportunities to transform these conflicts into benefits through a variety of conservation actions in collaboration with local communities, ranging from conservation payments to extractive and non-extractive ecotourism, with varying levels of success (Lindsey et al., 2005;Dickman et al., 2011;Redpath et al., 2017). The role of integrated approaches such as land sharing, especially in human-dominated systems is being widely recognized to improve habitat availability, landscape permeability and coexistence with humans for wide-ranging carnivores (Crouzeilles et al., 2015;Majgaonkar et al., 2019;Smith et al., 2019). ...
Global land use change has resulted in the loss and fragmentation of habitats and amplified the pace of species extinction. With carnivores being disproportionately at risk of range contraction, restoration is an important strategy to counter the impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation. While protection of public lands has been the cornerstone of conservation, private lands can play an important supplementary role. India harbors 23 % of the global carnivore species, threatened by a rapidly growing economy and high human densities. Using a social-ecological systems approach, we prioritized private agricultural lands for agroforestry in the buffer area of Pench Tiger Reserve. We applied systematic conservation planning tools and combined data on (1) habitat use of four carnivores (tiger, leopard, dhole, and sloth bear), (2) landowner willingness to modify land use through enrolment in an incentive-based program, and (3) monetary cost of program implementation, to identify priority areas for agroforestry based on their relative cost-effectiveness. Our integrated approach generated a configuration of priority areas that was markedly different than if we selected areas using ecological data only. Over an 8-year period, restoration of ~4900, ~8300 and ~12,000 acres through agroforestry was estimated to have a cumulative cost of USD 56 million, USD 95 million, and USD 140 million, respectively. Partnering with and incentivizing private landowners can expand the effective size of small and fragmented protected areas. Our approach can be applied to other shared landscapes, dominated by private ownership, to identify areas that deliver a compromise between ecological suitability, social acceptability, and economic viability.
... This is a novel approach, which sidesteps the often critiqued monetary evaluations of ES, and uses the entire ES approach to build connections with PAs' local communities and directly identifies possibilities for biodiversity-friendly business and development opportunities. Thus, PBBs contribute to both the preservation of biodiversity and improvement of living standards of local people and are fully in line with regulations of the PAs (Lindsey, P.A. et al. 2005). Moreover, since the proposed approach closely follows the principles of adaptive and participatory management, local stakeholders, PA managers, and experts are all equally involved in the process of identifying both the ES and PBBs. ...
Protected areas are a leading conservation tool for preserving biodiversity. However, the restrictions on human uses often engender resistance of local communities to the idea of living in protected environment. This paper describes the preparation of Biodiversity Investment Opportunities (BIO) maps for seven case areas in Central and South-Eastern Europe, using participatory methods. BIO maps have been further developed with the in-volvement of local stakeholders to define areas that can support economic activities while achieving a no net loss or even benefits for nature. The BIO maps can then be used to foster the development of Pro-Biodiversity Businesses (PBBs). PBBs are enterprises that generate financial returns without compromising the natural envi-ronments they depend on. PBBs were found to be a viable solution, effective in changing the perceptions of both the park managers and the local people towards the protected areas. Moreover, these enterprises can improve the local livelihoods, as well as actively protect nature and biodiversity. Therefore, the approach presented in this paper can be adopted as a model for managing any protected area and conserving cultural landscapes.
... Therefore, 322 articles met the threshold by keeping the minimum citations of 20. Among the 322 articles, 314 publications were connected to each other, forming 11 clusters, as shown in Fig. 8 (Prominent articles included: Scheyvens, 2000;Lawton, 2001;Marker et al., 2003;Tao et al., 2004;Herrero et al., 2005;Lindsey, 2005;Nagendra et al., 2005;Spenceley, 2006;Schianetz, 2008;Newsome and Davies, 2009;Reyers et al., 2009;De Groot, 2010;Dolnicar, 2010;Bscher, 2012;Fassoulas et al., 2012;Vianna et al., 2012;Devine, 2014;Saayman et al., 2016;Cetin et al., 2018;Sala and Giakoumi, 2018;and Gale et al., 2019). ...
Ecotourism projects are mostly implemented in naturally fragile ecosystems as a savior of nature, culture, and indigenous people. This paper aims to make quantitative study of ecotourism in protected areas by using bibliometric analysis. VOSviewer, a popular bibliometric software, was used to analyze as many as 1182 research articles published from 2002 to 2020. Those articles were collected from the Scopus database. The study measured three distinct types of bibliometric indicators (quantity, quality, and structural indicators) to analyze the published articles scientifically. The analysis uncovers ecotourism research in protected areas as an emerging and predominant field of research with a sound growth in annual publications and citations. Importantly, the majority of ecotourism research articles are published in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Canada, and China. Nevertheless, ecotourism as a relevant research theme of is getting due importance in African and Asian countries for two key reasons: (1) wildlife and tribal populations, and (2) uncontaminated ecology and environment of ecotourism sites. Further, the main research themes of articles in the field of ecotourism in protected areas are broadly focused on conservation, visitor management, and community. Our findings reveal that controversial issues surrounding ecotourism and its relationship to protected areas, dominated by human-wildlife conflict, gender, and climate change, are attracting the attention of researchers worldwide.
... Fraser-Celin et al. (2017) suggest conservation education programs, more wild prey available for the AWDs and community engagement as examples of actions to take to decrease human-wildlife conflicts. Perhaps it is even possible to let local residents pay for appropriate conservation to compensate the damages otherwise done by AWDs, as suggested by Lindsey, Alexander, du Toit & Mills (2005). Such a system is already in place in Sri Lanka for the Asian elephant. ...
... Although top-order mammalian predators have declined globally (Weber & Rabinowitz, 1996), they are still amongst the most frequently reintroduced group of organisms (Seddon et al., 2005). There were multiple reasons for this, including assisting with a species' conservation (Hayward et al., 2007b), the degree of knowledge about these charismatic species, the restoration of ecosystem functioning (Terborgh et al., 1999;Sinclair et al., 2003) and also the financial benefits of their presence in ecotourism ventures (Lindsey et al., 2005). ...
In a forest ecosystem, large felids are generally the top predators in almost every food chain influencing the structure and dynamics of the subsequent descending trophic levels. Evaluation of last fifty years’ presence and absence status of large felids in Protected Areas (PAs) of Indian subcontinent revealed that local extinction was highest in the dry deciduous habitat. Tiger, among all large felids had already become locally extinct from 70% of semi-arid dry thorn and 35% of dry deciduous forest areas. Tigers in dry semi-arid forests with its global western most limit, survive in small isolated populations. The present study assessed the movements and ranging patterns, prey availability, prey utilization and resource selection of reintroduced tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve from July 2008 to June 2012.
... Diedrich (2007) observes that, on the one hand, recreational maritime tourism is one of the many threats to the Belize Barrier Reef, but it is a motivation and a source for its conservation. Lindsey et al. (2005) have concluded that there is a sufficient income level from ecotourism to preserve the wild dog population in South Africa. Walpole (2001) reports the positive impact of ecotourism on the increase in the number of Komodo dragons (Varanus Komodoensis) in Komodo National Park (Indonesia). ...
The paper analyzes ecotourism's impact on the social, economic, and environmental components of sustainable development. A systematic review of the scientific literature on the topic reveals that the major problem in assessing ecotourism's impact is a lack of a unified approach to methods of measurement and certification in this field. Even approximate estimates show the high economic potential of ecotourism. Processing the data provided by mobile operators, using BigData technologies and the use of electronic visit permits, proves to be the most promising means to record the number of tourist arrivals. This data allows scientists to measure the level of tourism influence on the ecosystem. Studying foreign experience, eco-certification does not cover all objects of ecotourism. Although some countries, notably Australia, already have significant experience in implementing and using national eco-certification programs. In Ukraine, only several hotels and beaches have received eco-certification. Research on the impact of ecotourism on ecology has provided mixed results. We do not practice if ecotourism with caution; it jeopardizes the ecosystems on which its development depends. To promptly identify and prevent all negative consequences of the tourism in Ukraine, it is necessary to create (using foreign experience) tourist observatories. It should integrate the operation of such observatories into the national system of environmental and fiscal monitoring. Further development of this type of tourism in Ukraine requires more investments and support from the government. Therefore, it is necessary 1) to develop and implement a system of tax incentives for small businesses in ecotourism; 2) to enhance fiscal decentralization so that the environmental tax remains at the disposal of local communities and consequently local ecosystems; 3) to adjust the tourist tax base. The paper provides a generalization of the overseas experience, studies by scientists dedicated to the impact of ecotourism on the level of ecological culture of tourists and a local population. It presents conclusions regarding significant potential and opportunities for further successful development of ecotourism in Ukraine.
... Large terrestrial carnivores regulate ecological processes as apex predators (Ripple et al., 2014), generate economic value through ecotourism or hunting (Lindsey et al., 2005;Treves, 2009) and capture the public imagination as charismatic conservation flagships . Nevertheless, these same species are among the most vulnerable to extinction, owing largely to habitat loss and conflict with humans over livestock (Ripple, et al., 2014). ...
Shifting human–wildlife conflict towards coexistence requires a robust understanding of where conflict happens and why. Spatial models of livestock depredation by wild predators commonly identify depredation hotspots in areas where livestock are most abundant (e.g. nearer villages or pasture). This may reflect underlying livestock distribution, rather than imply these areas are inherently risky for livestock. This limits the predictive power of these models and their usefulness for conflict mitigation and wild carnivore conservation. Here, we build spatial models of both cattle depredation (530 attacks mostly by lions and hyenas; 2009‐2013), and cattle presence (14 GPS‐collared herds; 2010‐2012) near Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. We use Bayes’ theorem to combine the cattle depredation and presence models to quantify risk as the conditional probability of depredation given livestock presence. Our raw depredation models predicted higher depredation rates where cattle presence was more likely (near villages and in more open habitats). By contrast, our risk model predicted higher risk further from human activity and in more dense vegetation (where depredation rates were higher than expected given the low probability of cattle presence). Risk has also increased sharply towards protected areas (core carnivore habitat). Our formulation of risk captures high‐risk areas as those where livestock are most accessible (i.e. vulnerable) to predators as opposed to simply where they are most available (as in much previous work). We make recommendations for livestock protection and wild carnivore conservation based on our quantification of risk, such as where to avoid herding livestock and which areas to prioritize for livestock protection. Our approach may be profitably applied to guide safer livestock grazing or herding in other contexts where depredation and livestock movement data are available. We hope that the concepts and methods that we develop here will help advance the future study and mitigation of human–wildlife conflict more generally.
... However, the retaliatory actions by local communities versus wild dogs persist following the negative attitude already developed (Marker et al. 2003). The negative attitude by livestock keepers and ranchers towards wild dogs is due to economic loss they cause (Woodroffe et al. 2005;Lindsey et al. 2005). ...
Masenga E, Hasan SN, Japhet K. 2018. Abundance, distribution, and conservation threats of African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) in the Loliondo Game Controlled Area, Tanzania. Asian J For 2: 31-41. Assessment of abundance, distribution, and conservation threats to African wild dogs was conducted in Loliondo Game Controlled Area (LGCA), northern Tanzania. Specifically, the study focused on determining population size and structure, spatial distribution, attitudes of local people towards wild dogs and wild dog conservation and threats impacting the species. Semi-structured interviews, diurnal random searches, internal and external examinations of wild dogs carcasses examined, and night transect surveys were employed. Eight packs with a total of 132 recognized individuals at an average pack size of 16.50 ± SD 7.50 individuals were recorded. Pack sizes 3 individuals were reported to be sighted mostly and of all respondents (n= 210), only 26% were able to recognize wild dog sexes. The density of both known and unknown wild dogs was 0.19 animals/km2, higher compared to other carnivores. In terms of distribution, most of the packs were concentrated in the northern part as compared to the central and southern parts of LGCA. The species was observed to occur most in woodland type of vegetation. Interestingly, 55.30% of respondents showed a positive attitude towards wild dogs and wild dog conservation despite that 52.90% of respondents dismissed lack of any conservation action or strategy in place towards conserving the species. However, poisoning and Canine Distemper Virus were identified as the main threats. Therefore, conserving African wild dogs in LGCA requires mult-approach conservation efforts (i.e. awareness rising to community, fitting radio telemetry to the dogs and threats management interventions) due to nature of the species.
... For example, M. bovis infection in South Africa's endangered carnivore, the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), had been undocumented until cases were reported in 2015 (Higgitt et al., 2019). This is problematic since the largest and most stable wild dog populations in South Africa reside within game reserves that are endemic for TB, including KNP and HiP (Davies-Mostert et al., 2012;Lindsey et al., 2005). Specifically, the presence of controlled infectious diseases within wild dog populations may restrict translocations and subsequently affect meta-population management intended to ensure maintenance of genetic diversity. ...
Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) infects a wide range of wildlife species and has recently been discovered in the endangered African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). This study aimed to characterize the epidemiology of tuberculosis (TB) in wild dogs in endemic areas of South Africa. We describe 12 TB cases in wild dogs from Kruger National Park (KNP), Hluhluwe‐iMfolozi Park (HiP), and a private facility in Hoedspruit from 2015 to 2017. Spoligotyping was used to identify the disease‐causing M. bovis strain in these cases and whole genome sequencing was performed on 5 M. bovis isolates (KNP = 2 and HiP = 3) to investigate genomic diversity as well as the relationship to other isolates found in these geographical areas. Three distinct strain types were responsible for the M. bovis infections in this species. The SB0121 strain was observed in wild dogs from KNP, whereas SB0130 was responsible for infection in wild dogs from HiP. A novel strain, SB2681, was also identified in the HiP wild dogs. Whole genome sequence analysis suggests that different infection sources exist among these wild dogs and that inter‐species transmission most likely occurred between wildlife predators and prey located within shared geographical areas. This study highlights the importance of regular disease surveillance to identify and characterize potential threats for successful control of infection and protection of endangered species.
... As a result, past efforts to economically value wildlife viewing in Africa (e.g. Lindsey et al., 2005;Mladenov et al., 2007;Sekar et al., 2013;Lee and Du Preez, 2016;Saayman and Saayman, 2017), are relatively uncommon in terms of wildlife areas and species. However, quantifying ecotourism demand provides a powerful argument for conservation (Balmford et al., 2009) and helps to maximise ecotourism benefits (Sekar et al., 2013). ...
We examine tourism demand for an iconic ecological resource – the migration of ~1.3 million wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) in the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. The wildebeest migration generates economic benefits through ecotourism, which we investigated by combining quantitative tools from spatial ecology and environmental economics with wildebeest GPS collar data and lodge use data from Serengeti National Park. We used GLMMs and random utility models to quantify the effect of the distance from lodges to wildebeest hotspots on two important aspects of demand: the number of tourists visiting lodges in the park (participation); and the tourists' choice of where to stay during their visit (site choice). We find that longer distances between lodges and wildebeest hotspots significantly reduced tourist participation (i.e. the total number of tourists visiting lodges) and site choice (the probability of tourist groups choosing a lodge). Lodge price had a positive effect on participation, but it did not affect site choice for international tourist groups. Whilst our results are specific to the Serengeti, the methods presented here can be applied to any system in which non-consumptive wildlife viewing is the foundation of local ecotourism. As such, this novel approach provides a new perspective on the economics of wildlife management and strengthens the case for the continued conservation of ecosystems that contain wildlife resources. Due to the high value of the wildebeest migration to tourism, we suggest that future expansion of tourist infrastructure in the Serengeti should proceed in ways that minimise disturbance to this living resource.
... A study by Juma and Khademi-Vidra (2019) confirmed that ecotourism creates a market for local crafts and produce, creates jobs, supports local shops and services, attracts investment into an area, and increases demand for local cultural activities and amenities. This indicates that the benefits from ecotourism, though small in absolute terms, play an important role in increasing the means of living of indigenous communities often characterized by poverty and exclusion (Lindsey et al., 2005;Mbaiwa & Stronza, 2010). The cash income from ecotourism has the potential to stimulate income diversification and risk management among households (Lapeyre, 2010;Stronza, 2009). ...
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the factors influencing local communities' participation in ecotourism development initiatives. The study examines a small-scale ecotourism initiative-Mangalajodi Ecotourism Trust (MET) known as one of the best migratory birds' sanctuary located in India. A survey method was adopted to collect quantitative primary data through a semi-structured questionnaire among 174 local community members employed by the Mangalajodi Ecotourism Organization. The analytical results identified three factors influencing local community's participation (Community based tourism) in ecotourism, classified as community economic development, destination development and sustainable development. Principle Compound Analysis was performed among these three factors to find the significance among these factors. Based on these factors, k mean cluster analysis was performed to establish the variables that strongly influences participation of local communities in ecotourism development. Thus, this study widens the understanding of community based ecotourism initiatives for community development. From this study, it is concluded that local community members have a positive perception towards the development of community based ecotourism organizations. It is recommended that ecotourism organizations should exploit the existing development opportunities and adopt appropriate strategies for sustainability of the ecotourism initiatives and destinations. The findings could hopefully inform future tourism development decisions and strategies for this and similar tourism ventures.
... Wild dogs have been documented to use camp and boundary fences as a tool to aid in prey capture, especially larger prey such as kudu and waterbuck [20,75,76]. Moreover, wild dogs habituate to human presence at campsites in the KNP [77], potentially bringing them into contact with similarly habituated herbivore prey. ...
Human-carnivore conflict can threaten human life and livelihoods, leading to retaliation that negatively affects carnivore conservation. The endangered African wild dog Lycaon pictus is prone to human-carnivore conflict. Therefore, it is imperative to understand which landscape features are associated with African wild dog occurrence since selection or avoidance of these features could predict the levels of conflict. We investigated resource selection in the African wild dog in relation to four anthropogenic landscape features (livestock density, agriculture, roads and human land use) within the landscape that may pose a mortality risk, as well as one natural feature (nature reserves). We compared spatio-temporal space use patterns of four African wild dog packs in north-eastern South Africa. Data were collected from one collared individual per pack. These packs constituted approximately 10% of the total remaining African wild dog population in South Africa. Two packs occurred outside of the Kruger National Park and had access to multiple areas with farmland and other anthropogenic features, whereas the remaining two packs mainly occurred within the boundaries of the Kruger National Park but made occasional forays outside of park boundaries. Utilising Resource Selection Functions and GIS analyses, we found that agricultural landscape features, roads and nature reserves were important predictors of African wild dog occurrence for all four packs. In addition to potential conflict with farmers, high odds of occurrence on roads with fast-moving traffic and road mortality was highlighted as a concern for three of the packs. While farms and areas that house livestock were readily available, pack presence occurred in areas with few farms and low livestock densities, pointing to avoidance of areas where human-carnivore conflict and resulting mortality could occur. Our study highlights potential threats to the persistence of the African wild dog, which can be used to inform future conservation efforts of the species.
... Thus, establishing those goals is clearly a key element of any reintroduction effort, since reintroductions can have goals other than enhancing population and ESU viability. From a general perspective, these could include restoration of ecosystem functions (Byers et al. 2006), raising awareness of conservation issues (Vettorazzo et al. 2009), stimulation of local economies (Lindsey et al. 2005), or providing social and cultural benefits. For salmon and steelhead, the most obvious additional goal is providing harvest opportunities for recreational, commercial, or tribal fisheries. ...
Local extirpations of Pacific salmon, often due to dams and other stream barriers, are common throughout the western United States. Reestablishing salmonid populations in areas they historically occupied has substantial potential to assist conservation efforts, but best practices for reintroduction are not well established. In this report, we present a framework for planning reintroductions designed to promote recovery of salmonids listed under the Endangered Species Act. Prior to implementation, managers should first describe the benefits, risks, and constraints of a proposed reintroduction. We define benefits as specific biological improvements toward recovery objectives. Risks are potential negative outcomes of reintroductions that could worsen conservation status rather than improve it. Constraints are biological factors that will determine whether the reintroduction successfully establishes a self-sustaining population. We provide guidance for selecting a recolonization strategy (natural colonization, transplanting, or hatchery releases), a source population, and methods for providing passage that will maximize the probability of conservation benefit while minimizing risks. Monitoring is necessary to determine whether the reintroduction successfully achieves the benefits, and to evaluate impacts on nontarget species or populations. Many of the benefits, especially diversity and the evolution of locally adapted population segments, are likely to accrue over decadal time scales. Thus, we view reintroduction as a long-term approach to enhancing viability.
... that's what [7]. affirms, other researchers say that ecotourism is a vehicle to generate economic growth that is compatible with sustainable natural resource use [15]. In [16] also the ecotourism contributes directly with its economic benefits to the conservation of some species of animals [14] and as well others academics says that the majority of tourists and tour operators are in favor of ecotourism activities that might benefit local rural communities [17]. ...
The corpus of knowledge or Bodies of Knowledge (BOK) term it used to describe a set of structures than codify all concept, terms, techniques, and sustainable activities that constitute the domain of the exercise of a profession or specific area of knowledge in our case in Ecotourism context. Ecotourism combines passion for travel with the interest in the preservation of nature and it is related to concepts of sustainability, conservation and participation of the local community, this term has been used to promote tourism activities in the natural environment and attract tourists interested in nature and culture of places to visit. In the Amazon rainforest ecotourism is an activity that contributes both to the awareness of travelers and the communities, in addition to income generated by this activity helps to preserve this heritage. The aim of this article is to contribute to the estimation of discrete choice models in order to analyze individual preferences, by analyzing the demand for ecotourism products in Ecuador's southeastern region, province of Zamora Chinchipe, using data obtained from surveys conducted during 2018, which provide information about the preferences of visitors to the area, through discrete choice experiments, and supported on BOK model. This experiment consisted in the creation of twelve choice scenarios defined by two hypothetical ecotourism products each. Thus, the alternatives were defined in terms of the following attributes: price, hiking, participation in rituals, tasting local cuisine, visit to crafts center and experience of community life (codes of BOK).
... Ecotourism is widely viewed as the main opportunity for promoting economic and social growth within protected areas, and is commonly perceived to safeguard biodiversity ( Tisdell and Wilson, 2002;Lindsey et al., 2005). In effect ecotourism, as defined during the World Ecotourism Summit at Qu?bec City (Canada) on May 2002, strives to be a low-impact activity providing funds for the economic development of local communities and biodiversity conservation (WTO, 1993;Honey, 1999). ...
Abstract: The search for a balance between nature conservation and tourism development within protected areas is becoming an increasingly multifaceted problem worldwide, as outlined by several authors and pointed out by several international declarations and conferences. Since it is unlikely that all management objectives reach their optimum values simultaneously, an optimization approach is required to meet multiple, conflicting goals and to obtain an overall trade-off in terms of all the conceived objectives. In an European Site of Community Importance of the Italian Alps (SIC IT2040012 - province of Sondrio), where tourism is increasing considerably, we seek to plan new optimized paths and allocate new tourist infrastructures (refuges and camping sites), based on a virtual landscape built on biological and logistic criteria. To reach these goals we applied a multicriteria evaluation analysis (pathways) and a complex model based on genetic algorithms (sites). We identified and tested in the field three optimised routes for new tourist paths which have the least possible impact on existing biodiversity (habitats, plant and animal species), meeting logistic criteria as well. The proposed approach also allows the impacts of suggested paths to be estimated quantitatively thereby allowing comparison with existent paths. Proposed paths, based on optimisation, perform considerably well; furthermore, we were able to propose the decommissioning of eight existing paths that have high impacts on biodiversity. Resulting tourist allocations perform very well too, while existing tourist sites behave halfway between the fittest and the unfittest genetic solutions, since they privilege logistic and safety criteria rather than ecological ones. The results of these studies will contrubute to achieve a strategy for a local sustainable tourism, towards a satisfactory balance between nature and human activities, and may be easily exportable to any other protected areas.
... Various authors traced the root of the problem in the process establishing the revenue sharing policy. Beyond of getting money and change in livelihood, ecotourism requires that life of local communities adapt themselves to a different regime of wildlife exploitation, which imposes a view of the local life that is not necessarily in agreement with the real livelihoods of the local communities [24]. In addition, even though the benefits from ecotourism are valuable, they can still play an important role in increasing the means of living of local communities relative to a benchmark situations often characterized by poverty and isolation [25]. ...
The Lut Desert is one of Iran's and the world's unique geosystems. Its evolution and transformation have led to the formation of inherent diversity and dominance in environmental characteristics. These two features, diversity and uniqueness, have provided this unit with inherent capabilities for tourism development. Therefore, using the technique of future studies, this study identifies, prioritizes, and formulates the most important factors that determine the development of Lut Desert tourism. It presents a suitable framework for planning in the horizon of 2036. In terms of purpose, this study is practical, and this research uses a combination of documentary and survey methods. In terms of nature, it is based on future studies and exploratory and analytical methods. This was carried out by applying a combination of quantitative and qualitative models. The documentary and Delphi methods were mainly used to collect data. MICMAC software was also utilized for data analysis. Following initial discussion sessions with twenty tourism elites and experts as the study sample, fourteen variables out of forty were identified as the most important and uncertain factors related to the research topic. These variables were extracted from a review of sources and expert interviews, focusing on development factors. Five driving forces of potential alternatives were identified for future development during the analysis of the mutual effects between these factors. These driving forces include planning and policy development for Lut Desert tourism, governance development, strengthening the country's sovereignty in Lut Desert tourism development, improving the economic system, and enhancing financial support and investment. As a result, by applying the future research technique and taking into consideration the mentioned key drivers, decisions and plans will be directed and placed on a targeted path in the direction of the sustainable development of Lut desert ecotourism.
У навчальному посібнику детально розглянуто представників чоти-рьох родин хижаків, зокрема ведмедевих, псових (вовчих), котових (котя-чих) і мустелових (куницевих). Подано загальні відомості про тварин, ареа-ли їх поширення, спосіб життя, розмноження, харчування. Висвітлено про-блеми збереження і приналежність до видових категорій згідно з Червоним списком Міжнародного союзу охорони природи.
Для студентів і викладачів географічних факультетів вищих закладів освіти, майбутніх фахівців у галузі географії і природничих наук, усіх, хто цікавиться життям тварин.
Sustainability entails addressing our demands without jeopardizing future generations' ability to meet their own needs. In September 2015, 193 United Nations Member States adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, as a universal call for action to eradicate poverty, safeguard the environment, and ensure that all people experience peace and prosperity by 2030. These 17 interconnected global goals and 169 targets will be tracked and reviewed using a set of global indicators that will serve as a "blueprint for achieving a better and more sustainable future for everybody." Sustainability is all about the effective management of natural resources. These resources are limited and critical to maintaining ecological balance. There is a range of ways that can be used to attain these goals, including climate-smart agriculture, various means for achieving food security for zero hunger, adoption of local food diversity and education for zero poverty, and the removal of environmental toxins from land. A collective effort is required to balance our socio-economic needs with environmental needs. As a result, the effort to generate work that covers all aspects of sustainability, as is the case here, must come from a diverse set of experts. This permits each discipline of study to provide its unique perspective to a very complex and vital subject that could otherwise be intractable. In the prologue, the writers remind readers that the text does not always convey a self-contained set of ideas. Rather, within the broader documentation of Sustainability and Science, a degree of variability is accepted. This is unusual for an academic text, yet it is required in this case. The reason for this is that contemporary environmental issues are both time-sensitive and dynamic, and a perfect understanding does not exist and may never exist. However, the difficulties must be handled in good faith, on time, and with the best science available. As humanity fights to understand and tackle the great environmental concerns of our day, it is my sincerest hope that this effort, which is freely and extensively shared, will serve as an educational milestone. Furthermore, the text Strategies to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A Road Map for Global Development contributes to the intellectual foundation that will enable students to become the engines that will propel and maintain society on the path of sustainability and sustainable development through the difficult process of change alluded in “Our Common Future’’. A brief chapter-by-chapter description is as follows:
In Chapter 1, Thakur Prasad Yadav, Rajani Srivastava and Kalpana Awasthi have presented an innovative and sustainable approach for E-waste management through mechanical milling. E-waste is something that contains harmful compounds that, if not properly controlled, could harm human health and the environment. They also discussed various methods for recovering metals from e-waste. Manish Mathur and Preet Mathur in Chapter 2 discussed land restoration as key to sustainable prosperity and provide holistic information on different aspects of halophytes, specifically regarding the genus Haloxylon. Chapter 3 discusses cyanobacteria, a third-generation renewable energy resource that does not conflict with our food supply. It helps attain UN-SDGs especially goal 7 i.e., access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
Chapter 4, written by Sonam Gupta and Pradeep Kumar, describes the current state of biodiversity, the reasons for the decline and the interconnections between biodiversity and food security. It also discusses the importance of soil biodiversity as well as how the agricultural system contributes to biodiversity loss. Chapter 5 deals with microbial biomass and suggests it as a sustainable approach to restoring degraded soil. Microorganisms present in soil can bio-mineralize or bio-transform the contaminants into simpler, less toxic, or immobile forms. This chapter is written by Gitanjali. Anupriya Singh and others have given their research output in Chapter 6. Their study provides comprehensive information about Arbuda (cancer) and its probable remedy through Ayurveda and fulfilling the SDG 3.
Chapter 7 describes combating the menace of indoor air pollution for sustainable life. The authors emphasized the replacement of conventional stoves and fuel with much more efficient ones. Chapter 8 represents the development of natural farming systems as eco-tourism, a newly emerging concept in tourism, fusing environmental protection, cultural awareness, and low impact travel with the provisioning of employment generation. Mishra and coauthors in their chapter presented agro-eco-tourism models to improve the farm income and the socio-economic status of the farmers of rural areas is required while preserving the biodiversity and ensuring sustainable growth. Chapter 9 covers the wide area of the impact of crop residue/stubble burning on human, environment and soil health along with its possible management. According to Siddique and Sai Mentada in their chapter, crop residue can be utilized efficiently as a source of biofuel, biochar, bio-oil and cattle feed.
In Chapter 10, Dwivedi, Srivastava and Vijai Krishna give an overview of sustainable plant nutrition and soil carbon sequestration. They reviewed the basic mechanism leading to carbon stabilization in soils and new practices and technological developments in agricultural and cropland sciences for carbon sequestration. Chapter 11 intends to offer insight into the underpinnings of ‘place making’ through exploring diverse perspectives related to the concept. This chapter also seeks to identify the nexus between placemaking and urban tourism and attempt to recognize major ways in which it can contribute to achieving the goals of sustainability. Ranjana Tiwari in Chapter 12 emphasized that a healthy and long life is the first requirement of humans. She stresses the outlook of health from a psychological perspective and according to her, good mental health and well-being are strategies to attain sustainability.
Chapter 13 gives an overview of the potentiality of cyanobacteria and its application in wastewater management. According to Tripti Kanda and coauthors, cyanobacteria can be used as an innovative solution for a sustainable ecosystem. Gender equality is an important goal among 17 SDGs; Chapter 14 discussed this in the Indian context. Chapter 15 is presented by Rekha Srivastava, where she discussed challenges of mental health and prevention, the importance of healthy life and achieving SDGs. Chapter 16 explores the field of biofortification, innovative technology and strategies to remove malnutrition and achieve different UN-SDGs like Goal 2 (Zero hunger), Goal 3 (good health and well-being), Goal 12 (responsible consumption and production) and Goal 13 (Climate Action). This strategy will not only reduce the number of severely malnourished people who require complementary interventions but will also assist them in maintaining their improved nutritional status.
Chapter 17 discussed the efficiency of ecotourism. According to the author, it should promote sustainable development by establishing a long-term productive base that benefits both residents and ecotourism providers. Srishti, Alok and Gopal Nath in Chapter 18 presented phage therapy, a new way for the treatment of multidrug-resistant bacteria. According to them, phage therapy might be a good alternative to antimicrobial chemotherapy and helpful in achieving good health and well-being which is goal 3 of UN-SDGs.
By integrating giant panda natural reserves and extending conservation to previously unprotected areas, the establishment of the Giant Panda National Park (GPNP) in China has inevitably impacted the livelihoods of residents who now reside in areas surrounding the natural reserves. Understanding how to best support sustainable development is important for appropriate policy development in these areas. To assess this, we initiated workshops in two communities now part of the GPNP in the Wawushan nature reserve and used participatory scenarios to explore the challenges and potential adaptation strategies for these areas. Our findings show that traditional timber harvesting and eco-friendly resource income-generating opportunities are the primary livelihoods impacted by the restrictions due to the GPNP in the Changhe community (CHC). In contrast, in the Heishan community (HSC), ecotourism and non-timber forest utilization are the primary livelihoods impacted. We analyze four plausible scenarios after the GPNP is completed, with the participants choosing the partial restriction scenario as the most desirable in both communities. Ultimately, the recommended adaptation strategies are to provide sufficient subsidies, alternative job opportunities, ecological recreational activities, and increased planting of white tea in CHC. In the HSC, the recommendations include the eco-friendly cooperative of medicinal herbs, ecotourism, and infrastructure improvements. The findings suggest the need for more targeted conservation policies from government and local GPNP management to support local livelihoods in these areas.
This paper explores the ecotourism potentials of Wuling mushroom rocks and boulders (WMRBs) in north western Ghana. The study employed a qualitative research approach covering 24 respondents. The results show that WMRBs' potentilas are the presence of beautiful geological and geomorphological formations interlaced with interesting local uses, myths, and availability of tourism infrastructure. Apart from the opportunity to protect local biodiversity, community members are also enthusiastic about developing the site since it will offer them jobs and recognition. However, there are some challenges and threats to ecotourism development in Wuling, including bureaucratic processes associated with tourism regulators and promoters, low investor interest, free access to the site and possible reprisal if tradtional sources of livelihood are truncated by the development of ecotourism facilities. To address these challenges, the paper recommends aggressive marketing of the potentials of WMRBs and sensitization to allay the fears of community members about ecotourism development.
The maturity of the tourism destinations, along with the sector’s growing competitiveness and evolving tourist habits, demands the implementation of a series of strategies to increase the sustainability of these destinations while improving the tourism experience. Therefore, the imposition of taxes and/or fees on distinct tourism activities has become a viable option for the financing of these policies. The objective of this study is to determine the amounts of taxes and/or public fees that tourists appear to be more willing to pay in order to improve the sustainability and experience of the mature tourism destination. It also attempts to identify the factors that determine tourists’ willingness to pay. The study was carried out in Andalusia, a prominently touristic region of southern Spain, which received 32.4 million tourists in 2019. To do so, a survey was conducted on 1068 tourists at the main tourism arrival points of this region. First, the results identify the dimensions of taxes and/or public fees that tourists are more willing to pay, linked to environmental factors and tourism services. Second, the following factors were found to influence the tourists’ willingness to pay these taxes: the purpose of the trip, income, budget and place of origin.
Coexistence of hunting and wildlife conservation (WLC) is possible if hunting world includes itself in a process of social maturity, which is not only economic but also cultural and educational, to develop a new environmental awareness. Four forms of coexistence between hunting and WLC are examined: non-impactful, impactful and eliminatory, impactful but resilient, and impactful but contributory hunting (ICH). Typical hunter figures are described: venator dominus (owners, etc.), venator socius (associated to a specific district), and venator emptor (who buy rights from time to time). The most significant with regard to its impacts on wildlife, on the environment, and on local communities is ICH. This includes anti-poaching surveillance, monitoring, local community projects that seek improvement in residents’ social conditions (economic and cultural), and coexistence with ecotourism. Trophy hunting needs special attention because there are several critical elements but also various reasons to support a coexistence with WLC. In any case, the aware hunter must contribute to conservation but also concern himself with the economic, social, and cultural problems of those who live in the areas within which he hunts. Five case studies of hunting related to positive or critical consequences to conservation are examined: Italy, Wetlands, Oregon (USA), the Safari Club International, and trophy hunting in sub-Saharan Africa.
The proliferation of African wild dog reintroductions in fenced reserves is widely regarded to have been a successful conservation intervention. Despite this, research suggests that the presence of wild dogs in fenced areas can alter the species ecology, in particular, foraging. Evaluating the significance and causes of these changes is critical for understanding how wild dog populations can be managed and conserved in small fenced reserves. The use of fences when capturing prey is widely cited in literature yet very few papers have studied it. Using data collected from the daily monitoring of wild dogs from two reserves in South Africa, one in the presence of lions (Manyoni) and one without (Somkhanda), the use of fences by reintroduced wild dog packs were analysed. The results of this study showed at Manyoni kills within 10m and between 11-100m of the reserve boundary were significantly more frequent than at greater distances, while at Somkhanda although areas closer to the boundary positively correlated with kills, it was not significant. Results also indicated that interspecific competition was a major driver to consider in relation to this behaviour, with overall kill zones far more evenly distributed throughout Somkhanda when lions were absent. Events, such as mortality during the study period, meant the settling period post-release could not be concluded to be a factor, while denning appeared to have little impact on foraging behaviour. Medium-sized ungulates made up the majority of the diet in both reserves, while no preference was shown for hunting larger prey at the boundary edge. The distribution of all primary prey species were negatively associated with areas near to the fence boundary, indicating the presence of potential prey was not likely to be a driver of this behaviour It has been concluded in previous literature that an improved chance of capture success is the main driver for the increased frequency of successful hunts on reserve boundaries, however, these results indicate that it is a very complex set of factors that might be driving it, in particular, competition. The difference in results between the two packs highlights that care needs to be taken when generalising results even with populations in similar environments, due to the many complex drivers that influence the behaviour of wild dog packs.
Ecotourism originated in the 1980s, at the dawn of sustainable development, as a way to channel tourism revenues into conservation and development. Despite the “win-win” idea, scholars and practitioners debate the meaning and merits of ecotourism. We conducted a review of 30 years of ecotourism research, looking for empirical evidence of successes and failures. We found the following trends: Ecotourism is often conflated with outdoor recreation and other forms of conventional tourism; impact studies tend to focus on either ecological or social impacts, but rarely both; and research tends to lack time series data, precluding authors from discerning effects over time, either on conservation, levels of biodiversity, ecosystem integrity, local governance, or other indicators. Given increasing pressures on wild lands and wildlife, we see a need to add rigor to analyses of ecotourism. We provide suggestions for future research and offer a framework for study design and issues of measurement and scaling.
Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Environment and Resources Volume 44 is October 17, 2019. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
In South Africa, two of the smaller carnivores – caracals Caracal caracal and black-backed jackals Canis mesomelas – are reportedly responsible for most predation on small livestock. However, other species are also implicated in livestock predation in the country including lions Panthera leo, leopards Panthera pardus, cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus, servals Leptailurus serval, African wild dogs Lycaon pictus, side-striped jackals Canis adustus, Cape foxes Vulpes chama, free-roaming dogs (feral or controlled) Canis lupus familiaris, spotted hyenas Crocuta crocuta, brown hyenas Parahyaena brunnea, honey badgers Mellivora capensis, bushpigs Potamochoerus larvatus, chacma baboons Papio ursinus, Nile crocodiles Crocodylus niloticus, and various corvids and raptors. While it is well known that large carnivores are important in the top-down regulation of food webs, small carnivores can also, especially in the absence of the large carnivores, play a pivotal role in ecological processes. Predators can affect the density and dynamics of prey species, with cascading effects on whole ecosystems. Large predators, for example,
African wild dogs, are also important tourist attractions. The removal of large predators from an ecosystem may have many unexpected consequences, which from an ecosystem services perspective, can often be negative. In South Africa, many top-order predators have been historically extirpated from much of the land, with some species
(e.g. lions) now surviving mostly in formally protected areas. Some other species such as cheetahs, spotted hyenas, and African wild dogs, although still occurring outside protected areas, are probably dependent on them for continued survival. Here we briefly assess aspects of the biology and ecology of predators and how these affect livestock predation. We then review the evidence of their involvement in predation, and we identify which livestock are attacked, categorise the evidence of the predators attacking livestock, and broadly categorise the severity of this predation from injury to death. The ecology and behaviour of the main livestock predators are reviewed to determine how these affect the interaction with livestock. We also identify any potential gaps in the knowledge base which require future research.
Wildlife tourism is increasingly important for the conservation of threatened species such as snow leopards. However, what tourists know or value about snow leopards, and to what extent they support the conservation of this species, has received limited empirical attention. This paper investigates tourist knowledge about snow leopards, beliefs and values toward the species, and support for its conservation in the Annapurna Conservation Area of Nepal. Survey data were collected from 406 foreign tourists between March and May 2014. Although knowledge about snow leopards varied among respondents, there was widespread support for their conservation. Knowledge about snow leopards was best explained by education level and environmental organization membership. Improved knowledge about the species, and a variety of intrinsic conservation values, were found to increase tourist support for snow leopard conservation. These results provide important insights to help tailor tourism initiatives to support the conservation of snow leopards.
The era of transformation powered by digitization, improvements in information and communication technology, machine learning, robotics and artificial intelligence is upon us. Today, we are able to solve complex problems with the aid of technology. That notwithstanding, animal populations globally are under threat, with the extinction of species taking place at a far accelerated pace than can be reversed, thus making wildlife conservation a critical issue of our time. Along with wildlife extinction currently underway, there remains a chronic financial shortage for wildlife conservation and the funding shortfall is expanding annually. This research contends that blockchain, the technology underpinning
cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin can be utilized as a catalyst by the development of cryptowildlife nonfungible tokens (NFTs), which are provably scarce, unique and programmable digital wildlife collectible assets. These could be used to finance wildlife conservation as a supplementary source of revenue.
The reasons African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) populations declined to endangered status continent-wide have been difficult to document. However, demographic research to date indicates the following. Annual pack range size (150–3800 km2), density (2–35 dogs/1,000 km2), and territorial propensity of wild dogs appear related to prey density and temporal distribution, and habitat structure. Wild dogs usually live in packs of 10–14 composed of 1 or more adult females unrelated to 1 or more adult males, and their current or older offspring. Sex ratios of adults, yearlings, and pups usually are skewed toward males. Annually, usually 1 but sometimes 2 pack females breed and produce 8–12 pups each (up to 23 total); timing and frequency of parturition appears to coincide with prey abundance. Annual adult survival usually ranges from 0.65–0.85 and likely is most influenced by human-related mortality factors and disease (e.g., rabies and anthrax). Pup survival (0.1473x2013;0.73) appears to be influenced by number of adults in the pack and food availability. Dispersing wild dogs usually do so with same-sex siblings when 1.0–2.0 years old. Nutritional factors and perhaps natal pack composition likely affect the rates at which male or female wild dogs disperse. Dispersing groups join established packs or meet up with opposite sex groups and settle to establish new packs; dispersal distances may exceed 200 km. Observed annual finite rates of increase (k) for African wild dogs have ranged from 0.83–1.77, but potential rates may exceed 2.0. Reduced adult mortality, coupled with high pup survival and their subsequent dispersal as yearlings, can provide a mechanism by which populations decimated by catastrophic disease or human destruction can quickly rebuild if sufficient habitat is available. Collaborative ongoing research throughout a variety of habitats in Africa will facilitate examination of wild dog population dynamics, and provide information critical to conservation efforts.
Aggregate estimates for wildlife populations and species diversity on private land in Namibia were made for 1972 and 1992, using questionnaire surveys. Animal numbers and biomass appear to have increased by some 80%, or 3% per annum, over the period. The number of game species recorded increased by 44%. Cost-benefit analysis models were developed and used to analyse economic and financial efficiency of land use involving wildlife on private land. Financial profitability was generally low in the case of both livestock-game production for consumptive use and wildlife production for non-consumptive use. However these activities appear to be economically efficient, and result in a positive contribution to national income. The results suggest that there are financial incentives for private landholders to group together and form large scale conservancies. The latter benefit from economies of scale which make them more financially profitable and robust, and also more economically efficient, than ranches. Wildlife production for non-consumptive wildlife viewing yielded greater economic net value added per unit of land than livestock-wildlife production for consumptive use, particularly at the larger conservancy scale of operation. Aggregate estimates, in 1994 prices, of the annual net value added to national income from wildlife use on private land are N 56 million in 1992. The economic value of wildlife use as a proportion of the total value of private land rangeland use has risen from 5% to 11% over the 20-year period. Current policy to promote both wildlife use and the development of wildlife conservancies on private land appears to be economically sound.
The services of ecological systems and the natural capital stocksthat produce them are critical to the functioning of the
Earth’s life-support system. They contribute to human welfare, both directly and indirectly, and therefore represent
part of the total economic value of the planet.We have estimated the current economic value of 17 ecosystem services
for 16 biomes, based on published studies and a few original calculations. For the entire biosphere, the value (most of
which is outside the market) is estimated to be in the range of US33trillion per year. Because of the nature of the uncertainties, thismust be considered a minimum estimate. Global
gross national product total is around US$18 trillion per year.
In a recent analysis Woodroffe (2000) found a positive relationship between historical patterns of large carnivore extinction probability and human population density. However, much of the data in this analysis came from a period when carnivore extermination was a management objective. In order to explore the hypothesis that large carnivores can persist at high human densities when the management regime is more favourable we have repeated the analysis using up-to-date data from North America and Europe. In North America we found that large carnivore populations have increased after favourable legislation was introduced, despite further increases in human population density. In Europe we found no clear relationship between present carnivore distribution and human population density. We therefore believe that the existence of effective wildlife management structures is more important than human density per se.
Few environmental valuation studies have been carried out in developing countries. This study shows that the Travel Cost (TC) and the Contingent Valuation (CV) methods can be successfully applied to value natural resources in developing countries. These two independent methods were used to estimate the recreational value of wildlife viewing, which is a valid, but very conservative, estimate of the total economic value of the wildlife species. The annual recreational value of wildlife viewing in Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya was found to be 7.5–15 million USD. The flamingos accounted for more than of the value. Recognizing that this is only one of many parks in Kenya, and that wildlife viewing is becoming an important part of the global trend of increasing ecotourism, this clearly shows that sustainable management of wildlife resources could provide a very significant and much needed revenue source for developing countries in the future. The challenge for the developing countries is to find ways to realize this economic potential, which also secures the preservation of wildlife.
This paper examines attitudes of a rural community towards conservation and the Umfolozi/Hluhluwe/Corridor Complex Game Reserve, the local Conservation Area. The data presented were derived from a study of the viability of rural industries based on wildlife resources from this area.A questionnaire survey was carried out amongst households close to the Conservation Area. Respondents from 182 households were interviewed. A high proportion (65%) were found to be positive towards the concept of conservation though fewer were positive towards the Conservation Area and its managers.The distribution of attitudes in the community was cross-tabulated against 14 demographic variables. It was found that positive attitudes tended to increase with increasing household affluence and with the respondent's level of education. The most and the least westernised households tended to be positive towards conservation, suggesting the influence of a traditional concept of conservation. That households which had experienced direct benefits from the Conservation Area were more positive than those which had not indicates the importance of allowing local people access to wildlife resources and of encouraging structures to integrate conservation areas within local economies.
The rich biodiversity of the Cape Floristic Region makes a substantial contribution to the regional (particularly the Western Cape) and national economy. Harvesting of marine resources, such as linefish, rock lobster, abalone and bait species, is worth over R1300 million year−1, or R1.12 million km−1year−1. Harvests of fynbos products such as wildflowers and thatching reed, and forest products, timber and ferns, are worth R27 and R26 ha−1 year−1 on average, respectively, and a total of R78 million year−1. Natural resource-based tourism is one of the greatest income generators in the region, which is renowned for its beauty and floral diversity as well as other nature pursuits such as whale watching and angling. The natural resources of the CFR also contribute indirectly to the region's economic output: fynbos bees contribute to commercial fruit production, and fynbos mountain catchments provide the region's main water supply. Less tangible values include the option, or future use, value of the region's rich biodiversity, and existence value, for which estimates have been made on the basis of contingent valuation studies. The total economic value of the CFR is estimated to be at least R10 000 million per year (US$1=R7 in 2000), equivalent to over 10% of the regional Gross Geographic Product. However, invasion of aliens, transformation of natural vegetation and overexploitation of resources threaten the sustainability of this value. Invasive alien plants, which are the greatest proximate threat to floral diversity, already intercept significant water supplies. However, clearing is costly, and while government has an incentive to clear publicly owned mountain catchment areas, private land-owners do not. Similarly, private benefits of conserving fynbos areas do not provide sufficient incentive to protect against transformation to more lucrative farming activities, including monoculture of indigenous species. Current values of marine resources are unlikely to be upheld due to the overexploited status of most stocks, a problem which is compounded by poorly defined property rights, open access and inadequate law enforcement. It will be necessary to provide incentives to private landowners and resource users if optimal levels of protection are to be achieved to maximise benefits to society.
Reports results from a contingent valuation (CV) survey of willingness to pay (WTP) for the conservation of the Asian elephant of a sample of urban residents living in three selected housing schemes in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. Face-to-face surveys were conducted using an interview schedule (IS). A non-linear logit regression model is used to analyse the respondents’ responses for the payment principle questions and to identify the factors that influence their responses. We investigate whether urban residents’ WTP for the conservation of elephants is sufficient to compensate farmers for the damage caused by elephants. We find that the beneficiaries (the urban residents) could compensate losers (the farmers in the areas affected by human–elephant conflict, HEC) and be better off than in the absence of elephants in Sri Lanka. Therefore, there is a strong economic case for the conservation of the wild elephant population in Sri Lanka. However, we have insufficient data to determine the optimal level of this elephant population in the Kaldor–Hicks sense. Nevertheless, the current population of elephant in Sri Lanka is Kaldor–Hicks preferable to having none.
The conservation management of large carnivores in Africa is reviewed. In large protected areas the complexity of the relations between predators and prey, and between competing predators, indicate that these relationships should not be disturbed, even though, superficially, there may seem to be sound reasons to do so. Management action, however, may have to be taken against carnivores that break out of reserves. The related questions of translocation and re-introduction are also complex. Guidelines for considering whether to and how to implement these strategies are presented. It is stressed that adequate follow-up observations should be made after translocating or re- introducing carnivores, so that more information on the success of these strategies can be obtained. Much of Africa comprises rural areas inhabited by pastoralists. It may be possible to manage some large carnivore species in these areas to the mutual benefit of man and beast, but for this type of program to be successful, a well planned public relations campaign is essential.
In an economic analysis the present use of the most important national park in South Africa, (Kruger National Park) is compared with the use of the same land for agricultural purposes. The present use of the Kruger National Park creates substantially more net social benefits to society than agricultural use. The question remains whether these benefits are equitably distributed at various levels of the South African society.
The services of ecological systems and the natural capital stocks that produce them are critical to the functioning of the Earth's life-support system. They contribute to human welfare, both directly and indirectly, and therefore represent part of the total economic value of the planet. We have estimated the current economic value of 17 ecosystem services for 18 biomes, based on published studies and a few original calculations. For the entire biosphere, the value (most of which in outside the market) in estimated to be in the range of US33 trillion per year. Because of the nature of the uncertainties, thin must be considered a minimum estimate. Global gross national product total is around US$18 trillion per year.
This report describes a rabies outbreak in a wild dog pack
in Madikwe Game Reserve in the Northwestern Province of
South Africa and the attempts made to control it.
On the eve of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, it is timely to assess progress over the 10 years since its predecessor in Rio de Janeiro. Loss and degradation of remaining natural habitats has continued largely unabated. However, evidence has been accumulating that such systems generate marked economic benefits, which the available data suggest exceed those obtained from continued habitat conversion. We estimate that the overall benefit:cost ratio of an effective global program for the conservation of remaining wild nature is at least 100:1.
Recent extinction rates are 100 to 1000 times their pre-human levels in well-known, but taxonomically diverse groups from widely different environments. If all species currently deemed "threatened" become extinct in the next century, then future extinction rates will be 10 times recent rates. Some threatened species will survive the century, but many species not now threatened will succumb. Regions rich in species found only within them (endemics) dominate the global patterns of extinction. Although new technology provides details of habitat losses, estimates of future extinctions are hampered by our limited knowledge of which areas are rich in endemics.
The annual costs of maintaining Minnesota gray wolves (Canis lupus), now numbering about 2,500, under 2 plans are compared: (1) maintaining a population of about 1,400 primarily in the wilderness and semi-wilderness as recommended by the Eastern Timber Wolf Recovery Plan, and (2) allowing wolves to continue colonizing agricultural areas for 5 years after removal from the endangered species list, as recommended by a consensus of wolf stakeholders (Minnesota Wolf Management Roundtable). Under the first plan, each year an estimated 27 farms would suffer livestock losses; wolves would kilt about 3 dogs; 36 wolves would be destroyed; and the cost per wolf in the total population would be 86 for each of the 1,438 wolves living primarily in the wilderness and an additional $197 for each wolf outside the wilderness.
At present, a single viable population of endangered African wild dogs occurs in South Africa, in the Kruger National Park. Current conservation efforts focus on reintroducing wild dogs into a series of fenced reserves, thereby creating a meta-population in which sub-populations are actively managed to conserve genetic diversity. Additional options exist for conserving wild dogs outside protected areas. We report on an attempt to assess the numbers of wild dogs remaining outside protected areas as a precursor for conservation planning and show that they form a more significant component of the national population than previously recognized. Total numbers outside protected areas in South Africa are estimated to have fluctuated between 42 and 106 animals during the period 1996-2002. Of these, 25-67 individuals were thought to be resident outside protected areas during this period, with an extent of occurrence of 43 310 km2 and an area of occupancy of 17 907 km2. Sightings were most frequently reported from the western border of Kruger National Park, the Limpopo Valley, and northern KwaZulu-Natal. Most wild dogs occur on game ranches with unmodified land cover and low human densities, close to source populations. Significant scope for distribution expansion exists in the Limpopo and North West Provinces. However, efforts aimed at changing landowner attitudes towards wild dogs are necessary to improve the conservation status of the species outside protected areas.
Protected areas are under increasing pressure to provide economic justification for their existence, particularly in developing countries where demand for land and natural resources is high. Nature-based tourism offers a mechanism to generate substantial benefits front protected areas for both governments and local communities, and ecotourism is increasingly promoted as a sustainable use of protected areas. The extent to which ecotourism offsets the costs of a protected area has rarely been examined. We used financial data from Komodo National Park, Indonesia, and a willingness-to-pay questionnaire of independent visitors to (1) examine the financial contribution of tourism in offsetting the costs of tourism and wider management and (2) assess the effect of hypothetical fee increases on park revenues, visitation patterns, and local economies. Although only 6.9% of park management costs were recovered, visitors were willing to pay over 10 times the current entrance fee, indicating a substantial potential for increased revenue. The potential negative effect of large fee increases on visitor numbers and the resultant effect on local economic benefits from tourism may limit the extent to which greater financial benefits from Komodo National Park (KNP) can be realized. Our results suggest that a moderate, tiered increase in entrance fees is most appropriate, and that partial revenue retention by KNP would help demonstrate the conservation value of tourism to both visitors and managers and has the potential to increase visitors' willingness to pay.
African wild dogs ( Lycaon pictus) are a seriously endangered species with only around 5000 individuals left. We examined the factors likely to be affecting the distribution and density of wild dogs living in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. We collected data, by traditional and satellite radio‐tracking, on diet selection, sizes of packs, dispersion and sizes of territories, and patterns of habitat selection for eight packs of wild dogs. In Kruger wild dogs specialize on impala ( Aepyceros melampus) and kudu ( Tragelaphus strepsiceros). They live in packs averaging about nine dogs and inhabit territories of 350–950 km ² . Neighboring territories overlap to some extent but packs meet very rarely. The dispersion pattern of food plays only a minor role in determining the density and distribution of dogs in the Kruger; dogs exist at their lowest density where their food is most abundant. This apparent paradox comes about because the dogs seem to avoid areas that, although prey‐rich, are heavily used by lions. This is a sensible strategy because lions are a major cause of dog mortality, accounting for some 39% of natural pup deaths and at least 43% of natural adult deaths. Wild dogs may be conserved most successfully in areas with moderate to low densities of lions and spotted hyenas, and management strategies should be careful not to promote these species to the detriment of wild dogs and other carnivores. The densities of lions and spotted hyenas should be important criteria when considering an area for the reintroduction of wild dogs and other similar sized carnivores.
Factores que Afectan la Densidad y Distribución de Perros Salvajes en el Parque Nacional Kruger
El perro salvaje africano ( Lycaon pictus) es una especie en serio peligro de extinción, con una población estimada de solamente 5000 individuos. Hemos examinado los factores que con mayor probabilidad afectan la distribución y densidad de los perros salvajes que habitan el Parque Nacional Kruger en Sudáfrica. Información sobre la selección de alimento, tamaño de grupo, dispersión y tamaño de territorio y patrones de selección de hábitat fué colectada usando métodos tradicionales y seguimiento con satélite para ocho grupos de perros salvajes en el parque. Esta especie se especializa en impala ( Aepyceros melampus) y kudu ( Tragelaphus strepsiceros). Vive en grupos de 9 individuos en promedio y habita un territorio de 350‐950 km ² . Territorios vecinos se sobreponen en cierta proporción, pero los encuentros entre diferentes grupos raras veces ocurren. El patrón de dispersión de la comida juega solo un pequeño papel en la determinación de la densidad en lugares donde la comida es mas abundante. Esta aparente paradoja es consecuencia de que los perros parecen evitar zonas que, a pesar de ser ricas en presas, también son muy usadas por leones (Panthera leo). Esta estrategia es sensata, pues esta especie es una de las mayores causas de mortalidad para los perros, alcanzando un 39% de mortalidad natural de los cachorros y al menos un 43% de la mortalidad natural de los adultos. Los perros salvajes podrían ser conservados con mas éxito en zonas con una densidad moderada o baja de leones y hienas manchadas (Crocuta crocuta). Las estrategias de conservación deben ser cuidadosamente estudiadas para evitar favorecer estas especies en detrimento de los perros salvajes y otras especies de carnívoros. La denisdad de leones y hienas manchadas deberá ser un criterio importante cuando se considere una zona para la reintroducción de los perros salvajes y otros carnívoros de similar tamaño.
Aside from Kruger National Park, no other suitable reserves of sufficient size exist in South Africa that will hold a viable population of wild dogs (Lycaon pictus). Consequently, conservation efforts have been focused on creating a metapopulation through a series of wild dog reintroductions into isolated fenced reserves. Additional potential exists for conserving wild dogs on private ranch land. Establishing the metapopulation was an expensive process, accounting for approximately 75% of the US100,000 expenditure). Establishing the metapopulation has been less cost efficient (23 packs/100,000). Because of low logistical costs, conserving wild dogs in situ on private ranch land was potentially more cost efficient than reintroducing wild dogs (14-27 packs/$100,000). We recommend that donor funding be used to reintroduce wild dogs into transfrontier parks, when they are established, to maintain the existing metapopulation and to establish conservation programs involving wild dogs on private ranch land. Investing in the expansion of the metapopulation should be limited to state-owned nature reserves willing to carry predation costs without compensation.
Since 1954, several southern African institutions have established captive breeding programs to ensure the long-term survival of the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus). To aid this, a studbook was assembled to provide genetic and demographic information for the southern African captive populations, comprising the largest existing regional population of captive African wild dogs. These populations were investigated over three time frames: during 1985–1990, during 1991–1996 and populations alive in January 1997. The captive-breeding programme is successful with a positive population growth, a significant lowering of inbreeding and mean kinship and an increased genetic diversity. However, genetic variability levels appear lower and levels of inbreeding appear higher compared with wild populations. In addition, there have been no successful long-term re-introductions into the southern African wild using captive-bred dogs, mainly due to the lack of close collaboration between captive breeding and nature conservation institutions. The ultimate success of a conservation programme not only depends on proper demographic and genetic management of the captive population, but primarily on the successful collaboration of all scientific, captive breeding and conservation agencies involved.
Sex differences in African wild dog dispersal behaviour have been described variously as strongly female biased to unbiased. Dispersal from natal home ranges to reproductive home ranges was recorded over 5 years from eight study packs in a free-ranging population of wild dogs in northern Botswana. Analysis of sex differences in natal dispersal was based on (1) age of natal dispersers, (2) dispersing group size, and (3) natal dispersal distance. Dispersal distance was measured by (i) the distance between arithmetic centres of range locations, (ii) spatial association of reproductive and natal home ranges (contiguous versus disjunct), and (iii) pair-wise comparison of dispersal distances between males and females establishing a reproductive home range together. Males in this population dispersed later, in larger groups and further than females. These results contrast with earlier reports for wild dogs and show that females are the more spatially philopatric sex. This pattern of sex-biased dispersal is evaluated in relation to two current, alternative but not mutually exclusive hypotheses: inbreeding avoidance and competition for mating opportunities. All wild dogs of both sexes emigrated when in the presence of their opposite sex parent. Despite frequent opportunities, no dogs mated with close relatives (r≥0.5). The consequences of sex-biased dispersal in wild dogs are consistent with both hypotheses, but the competition for mating opportunities hypothesis is supported only within the context of dispersal behaviour indicative of close inbreeding avoidance.
The brown bear Ursus arctos, wolf Canis lupus, and Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx vanished during the 18th and 19th centuries from all regions of high human activity in Europe because of direct persecution and environmental changes. Bear, wolf, and lynx were vulnerable in different ways to deforestation and the destruction of wild ungulate populations. Analysing the ecological factors responsible for the fall of the large carnivores can help to prepare their recovery. The return of large predators into semi-natural areas such as the Alps is possible, as the forests have expanded, and the wild ungulate populations increased. Lynx reintroduction in the Alps started in the 1970s. Wolves returned to the south-western Alps from the central Italian population in the early 1990s. The brown bear is recolonising the Austrian Alps from Slovenia. However, the modern protective legislation is not backed by a cooperative attitude among the affected people. In rural areas, large carnivores are still regarded as unrestrained killers of wildlife and livestock. Ecological conditions and husbandry in the Alps have been altered substantially since the large carnivores were eradicated, and the potential for conflicts has diminished. But stockmen have lost any remaining tradition of coexistence with large predators, and sheep are again very abundant in the Swiss Alps. The return of the large predators will not be possible without changing the system of sheep-husbandry. The rural people are not yet willing to do so. They generally object to any change in their lifestyle induced from outside, and the large predators become a negative symbol for restrictive conservation measures considered to hinder economic development. Nature conservation, including the reintegration of large predators, must be integrated into rural development; local people must be much more involved in this process.
Foreword Preface 1. Valuing Public Goods Using the Contingent Valuation Method 2. Theoretical Basis of the Contingent Valuation Method 3. Benefits and Their Measurement 4. Variations in Contingent Valuation Scenario Designs 5. The Methodological Challenge 6. Will Respondents Answer Honestly? 7. Strategic Behavior and Contingent Valuation Studies 8. Can Respondents Answer Meaningfully? 9. Hypothetical Values and Contingent Valuation Studies 10. Enhancing Reliability 11. Measurement Bias
Within the Serengeti ecosystem, there are large differentials between the revenues and profits which Maasai landowners are currently earning from using their land for traditional livestock management, augmented by tourism and agriculture, with the revenues and profits which they can potentially earn from using this same land to its full agricultural potential. These differentials range from 1:3 on land with relatively poor agricultural potential to 1:23 on land with good agricultural potential. These differentials create strong economic incentives to the landowners of group ranches to develop their land for agriculture and ranching at the expense of wildlife. This calls into question the viability of conservation policies for rangeland areas based on a mix of traditional livestock management and wildlife based tourism. If national wildlife managers and conservationists wish to preserve wildlife on these group ranches then they must reduce the economic incentives to private landowners to develop their land. This can be done only by matching their opportunity costs, namely the profits forgone. In other words, wildlife managers must compensate the Maasai for not developing their land. The sums involved are not trivial: within the Mara Area alone they amount to some 250 ha -1 yr -1 to farmers for "set aside". Funds other than tourist revenues could therefore be sought to develop a "set aside" programme in Kenya.
Large carnivores are key visitor attractions in protected areas, but are difficult to see. Thus, supplementary feeding is sometimes used to attract them to viewing sites. Such intervention is contentious but its effects have rarely been examined. This paper analyses a case study of supplementary feeding in Komodo National Park, Indonesia. Using data from daily and annual Komodo dragon censuses, feeding records and financial accounts, the effects of feeding and its cessation on dragon numbers, tourist viewing opportunities and local community benefits were examined. Regular feeding caused dragon numbers to increase at the feeding site, but not year-round. Cessation of feeding caused numbers to decline again to natural levels. However, tourists were less likely to see dragons at the feeding site after cessation, and local community revenues declined with the loss of a market for goats. Solutions lie in finding less intrusive means for tourists to view dragons, and enabling local people to become involved in tourism through training, recruitment and the development of alternative markets.
This paper presents a synopsis of the current status and distribution of the African wild dog Lycaon pictus, outlines reasons for its decline and discusses recommendations to halt or reverse this decline. A recent review of the status of the species provides evidence that it has disappeared or is in decline throughout its range (sub-Saharan Africa). Relict populations with little or no chance of long-term survival are found in several countries including Algeria and Senegal. Countries believed to contain potentially viable populations are, from north to south, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa (only the Kruger National Park).
This study was an investigation of the diet and of prey selection by a population of African wild dogs Lycaon
pictus in the Savé Valley Conservancy (SVC) in the south-east lowveld of Zimbabwe. The diet of the dogs, based on the number of kills for each species located, consisted almost entirely of impala Aepyceras
melampus (74%) and kudu Tragelaphus
strepsiceros (22%), the two most abundant medium-sized antelope in the area. The level of selection for different prey classes killed by the wild dogs was investigated and it was found that the wild dogs: (1) exhibited strong selection for a number of prey classes on a seasonal basis; (2) selected kudu throughout the year but showed little selection between the other prey species; (3) selected the young of both impala and kudu and selected males at times of the rut. Bone marrow analysis showed that prey killed by the wild dogs on SVC were in poorer condition than unselectively culled individuals suggesting the selection of the weaker individuals in the prey populations.
The small population of wild dog Lycaon pictus (n= 3 to 30) in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park (HUP) has declined since 1992. The survival of dogs in HUP is dependent on the reintroduction of more dogs; however, wild dog reintroduction programmes are fraught with problems and many have failed. In this paper the diet and capture success of the wild dog pack in the Hluhluwe Section, and the influence of dietary considerations on the success of the future reintroduction of wild dogs in this reserve, are investigated. Diet choice was determined from scat analysis, personal observation and field staff records. Eight ungulate prey species were identified from scat analysis: nyala Tragelaphus angasi and impala Aepyceros melampus were the most abundant ungulate species in HUP and accounted for 77% of the diet. On the whole, wild dogs included prey types in the diet consistent with a rate-maximizing foraging approach, although some prey were clearly taken opportunistically. The dogs preyed mostly on small- (> 25 kg) to medium-sized (40–90 kg) prey, while the young of large (< 90 kg) prey species or scavenged carcasses supplemented the diet during the dry season. Adult nyala were taken more frequently than other age classes, but wild dog preyed on juvenile impala more than expected. Female prey were taken more frequently than males but selection did not differ from prey population sex ratios. Prey capture success was similar to that of previous studies from both open and densely wooded habitats and the wild dogs successfully caught 48% of all prey species pursued. Results suggest that wild dogs are quite capable of adapting both their diet choice and foraging technique to the dense vegetation in HUP. We conclude that prey type, prey availability and habitat constraints on prey capture success, will not affect the reintroduction of more wild dogs into HUP.
With limited monetary resources available for nature conservation, policy‐makers need to be able to prioritize conservation objectives. This has traditionally been done using qualitative ecological criteria. However, since declines in species and habitats are largely the result of socio‐economic and political forces, human preferences and values should also be taken into account. An environmental economics technique, contingent valuation, provides one way of doing this by quantifying public willingness‐to‐pay towards specific conservation objectives.
In this paper, the use of this approach for quantifying public preferences towards the UK Biodiversity Action Plans for four different British mammal species is considered. The species included are the Red Squirrel Sciurus vulgaris , the Brown Hare Lepus europaeus , the Otter Lutra lutra and the Water Vole Arvicola terrestris . Willingness‐to‐pay for conservation was increased by the inclusion of the Otter among the species, membership of an environmental organization and awareness of the general and species‐specific threats facing British mammals. It was reduced by the presence of the Brown Hare among the species being considered.
These findings for British mammals are compared with other willingness‐to‐pay studies for mammal conservation worldwide. Willingness‐to‐pay tends to be greater for marine mammals than terrestrial ones, and recreational users of species (tourists or hunters) are generally more willing than residents to pay towards species conservation. The choice of technique for eliciting willingness‐to‐pay from respondents is also shown to be highly significant.
Willingness‐to‐pay values for British mammals derived from contingent valuation are sensitive to the species included rather than merely symbolic. This indicates that, with care, such measures can be used as a reliable means of quantifying public preferences for conservation, and therefore contributing to the decision‐making process. However, irrespective of the internal consistency of contingent valuation, the validity of the approach, especially for use in nature conservation, is disputed. Willingness‐to‐pay is likely to reflect many interrelated factors such as ethical and moral values, knowledge and tradition, and monetary values may not be an adequate representation of these broader considerations. Willingness‐to‐pay approaches should therefore be used in addition to, rather than in place of, expert judgements and more deliberative approaches towards policy decision‐making for conservation.
Namibia has the largest remaining population of free-ranging cheetahs ( Acinonyx jubatus ) in the world, 90% of which are found outside protected areas on commercial farms. We conducted a baseline survey of Namibian farmers between 1991 and 1993, with a yearly follow-up thereafter until 1999, to quantify the perceptions of farmers toward cheetahs. Specifically, we sought to identify factors that cause cheetahs to be perceived as pests and management practices that mitigate this perception. The baseline survey revealed that farmers who regarded cheetahs as problems removed an average of 29 cheetahs annually, whereas those who did not consider them problematic removed a mean of 14 annually. These figures dropped significantly to 3.5 and 2.0 cheetahs per year after the introduction of educational materials. The perception that cheetahs are pests was significantly associated with game farms, and the presence of “play trees” on farms emerged as a significant corollary of both negative perceptions and removals of cheetahs. Between 1991 and 1999, the mean annual number of cheetah removals significantly decreased from 19 to 2.1. Late in the study, cheetah killing was more closely correlated with perceived problems than in the early years of the study. These findings suggest that although cheetahs are still perceived as a problem, farmers' tolerance toward cheetahs has increased. Management strategies and economic incentives that promote cheetah conservation, such as the formation of conservancies, development of ecotourism, and marketing of “predator-friendly” meat, are essential for conserving cheetahs outside protected areas.
Conserving large carnivores in North America hinges on protecting vast wildlands, a strategy often assumed to carry significant economic costs in terms of jobs and income foregone. Using case studies, we tested whether there is enough evidence to support the assertion that the protection of wildlands in detrimental to economic development in the northern U.S. Rocky Mountains and the Rocky Mountains of southern British Columbia and Alberta. We analyzed employment and income trends in northwestern Montana (U.S.A.) for counties with a high degree of wildland protection versus counties with high levels of resource extraction and little wildland protection. Employment and personal income levels in 'wilderness' counties grew faster than in 'resource-extraction' counties. Wilderness counties also showed higher degrees of economic diversification and lower unemployment rates. No direct cause-and-effect relationship was established between wildlands protection and economic development, but to the assertion that protecting wildland habitat for large carnivores is detrimental to a region's economy, enough counterevidence is presented to suggest an alternative hypothesis: the protection of wilderness habitat that sustains wild carnivores such as grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) and wolves (Canis lupus) does not have a detrimental effect on local or regional economies. Evidence presented suggests that economic growth is stimulated by environmental amenities. Further, case studies in southern British Columbia and Alberta in Canada and the Greater Yellowstone region, in the U.S. where environmental protection has been explicitly recognized as an economic development strategy, suggest that environmental protection and economic development are complementary goals. In some areas, however, 'amenity-based' economic growth is rapidly leading to urban sprawl and subsequent loss of wildlife habitat, and there is a need for growth management.
Protected areas are under increasing pressure to provide economic justification for their existence, particularly in developing countries where demand for land and natural resources is high. Nature-based tourism offers a mechanism to generate substantial benefits from protected areas for both governments and local communities, and ecotourism is increasingly promoted as a sustainable use of protected areas. The extent to which ecotourism offsets the costs of a protected area has rarely been examined. We used financial data from Komodo National Park, Indonesia, and a willingness-to-pay questionnaire of independent visitors to (1) examine the financial contribution of tourism in offsetting the costs of tourism and wider management and (2) assess the effect of hypothetical fee increases on park revenues, visitation patterns, and local economies. Although only 6.9% of park management costs were recovered, visitors were willing to pay over 10 times the current entrance fee, indicating a substantial potential for increased revenue. The potential negative effect of large fee increases on visitor numbers and the resultant effect on local economic benefits from tourism may limit the extent to which greater financial benefits from Komodo National Park (KNP) can be realized. Our results suggest that a moderate, tiered increase in entrance fees is most appropriate, and that partial revenue retention by KNP would help demonstrate the conservation value of tourism to both visitors and managers and has the potential to increase visitors' willingness to pay.
The financial returns to Kenyan tourism demonstrate the importance of the country's tourist potential to its economic development. Protected areas and their inhabitants are the principal focus of the tourist industry, the nations's main foreign exchange earner, and a source of wonder and value for a global population of non-users. It might be expected that such assets would be accorded some degree of security with sufficient funding to safeguard current and potential economic benefits. Yet park use is haphazard, and there is frequently little coincidence between those that benefit and those that pay for the continued existence of such areas. Growing economic and demographic pressures which threaten to swamp protected areas only emphasize the implicit subsidy currently paid by Kenyans to support conservation for the benefit of the world at large. In this climate the case for conservation depends on the measurement and capture of economic benefits. Using a contingent valuation survey of expressed preference this study estimates the consumer surplus attached to current non-consumptive use of protected areas by foreign visitors at some $450 million per annum. This sum alone is more than double the best available estimate of opportunity cost and appears to justify current resource use. The estimate is additional to current financial returns from tourism and makes no allowance for other direct and indirect benefits and potential returns from consumptive uses. Measured consumer surplus contains some margin of willingness to pay that could be captured through the current fee structure. Moreover, park fees represent the most accessible market mechanism to finance revenue sharing and additional park investment before potential recourse to emerging global market institutions.
The Namibian cheetah population has recently undergone serious decline due to human-mediated removals, and investigating the rates and causes of such removals is an important aspect of the future management of cheetah populations outside protected areas. We examined cheetahs that were reported live-trapped or killed on Namibian farmlands between 1991 and 1999. A perceived threat to livestock or game led to the vast majority of live captures and to almost half of the cheetah deaths investigated. Despite this, livestock predation from cheetahs appeared to be minimal, and was usually perpetrated by cheetahs with injuries. Most of the cheetahs were trapped in groups, and cheetahs’ relative sociality leads to the easy removal of entire social units. Long-term monitoring must include detailed consideration of these indiscriminate removals, as they involve many cheetahs, fluctuate between years, often go unreported, and are likely to have a serious impact on cheetah populations outside protected areas.
The wolf population in Scandinavia has increased from functionally extinct to about 100 wolves since the 1970s. In 2001 we surveyed four groups of Swedes to analyze the relationship between experience, knowledge, and people's attitude toward wolves. Although all groups support the right of wolves to exist, Swedes who live in areas where wolves have been restored have more negative attitudes than the general public. Attitudes toward wolves are not strong among the general public, thus changes are possible. Experience with wolf predation leads to more negative attitudes toward wolves. Hunters in areas with wolves have the most accurate knowledge about wolves but at the same time the most negative attitudes. But within all four groups as knowledge increases attitudes become more positive. Still, the most knowledgeable local hunters have less favorable attitudes than the least knowledgeable members of the general public. High proportions of the population do not care about wolves which makes it difficult to reach them with information, but does make them susceptible to rapid changes if wolves become a media topic. With the restoration of wolves, hunters, the strongest supporters of wolves in the 1970s, are now less supportive than the general public.
Approximately 5,000 photographs of African wild dogs Lycaon pictus taken in the Kruger National Park and some neighbouring reserves, in combination with direct observations, were used to assess the number of dogs, their pack sizes, sex ratio and breeding success during 1988 and 1989. A total of 357 dogs were identified in 26 packs, giving a minimum density of 16·7 dogs/1000 km2. Comparisons with earlier observations suggest that this population has remained stable over the last 25 years. Mean pack size was 13·7 ± SD 7·1 and the sex ratio of 1 male: 0·9 female close to parity. At least 69% of packs raised pups in 1988. Litter size at three months was 11·9 ± SD 3·0 and pup mortality between four and 10 months was 44%. Pup survival was positively correlated with the number of females in a pack. This large conservation area with stable prey populations, and a low incidence of disease and poaching, provides an environment conductive to wild dog survival.
Most large mammalian carnivores are in global decline, principally due to conflict with livestock farmers. Because endangered African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) range widely, often beyond the boundaries of protected areas, they may be particularly exposed to lethal control by farmers, even where nominally protected by reserves. Hence, effectively conserving wild dogs demands resolution of their conflicts with farmers. We investigated livestock depredation by African wild dogs living outside protected areas in northern Kenya. Scat analysis confirmed the distribution of depredation events reported by local farmers, indicating that farmer reports – collated by local Community Liaison Officers – gave a reasonably good index of the true pattern of depredation. Although livestock were abundant throughout the study area, depredation was exceedingly uncommon (approximately one attack per 1000 km2 per year) and the costs of tolerating wild dogs were very low (US 389/wilddog/year. Hence, although wild dogs had a negligible economic impact in the region, their impact was locally severe. Conservation activities for wild dogs are most likely to be successful if targeted at areas where wild prey remain, and where traditional herding practices have been retained.
The painted hunting dog Lycaon pictus, labelled an inveterate stock killer, was formerly slaughtered in large numbers and eradicated throughout most of its former range. Reports of a pack of painted hunting dogs estimated at 35 individuals, and cattle losses of 59 animals over a 2-year period in the Nyamandlovu region, Zimbabwe, were checked by fieldwork. A resident pack numbering 16 individuals was confirmed, with a home range of ⩾660 km2. Authentic cattle losses due to dogs from a herd averaging 3132 amounted to ⩽26 animals out of a total of 268 losses with a peak during the calving season but few losses during the denning period. The pack fed predominantly on impala, duiker and kudu. There were indications that some of the losses attributed to the dogs were in fact due to cattle rustling and poaching.
This paper argues that, at present, ecotourism can contribute to safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem functions in developing countries, even though meeting the requirements for ecotourism is extremely difficult. A cost-benefit analysis of those ecosystems richest in species diversity, i.e. tropical rainforests, leads to the conclusion that non-use values often outweigh the values of conventional uses (clear-cutting, pasture, etc.), but are hardly considered in development decisions. Therefore, tourism and its high direct use value can play an important role as an incentive for protection. As tourism causes significant emissions, e.g. by flying, the concept of Environmental Damage Costs is introduced and integrated into the calculations. Further, international tourism development is analyzed and related to protection goals. Visitation rates of sensitive areas need to be limited; education, management, and control measures have to be integrated; and the proportion of money captured from tourists has to be increased. In the long run, tourism needs to undergo substantial changes.
The economic value of rare, threatened and endangered species to citizens of the USA has been measured using the contingent valuation method for 18 different species. Annual willingness to pay (WTP) range from a low of 95 per household for the northern spotted owl and its old growth habitat. A regression analysis of WTP values shows that over half of the variation in WTP is explained by the change in the size of the population, whether the payment is one-time or annual, whether the respondent is a visitor or non-user and whether the species is a marine mammal or bird. This illustrates that the contingent valuation method can provide meaningful estimates of the anthropocentric benefits of preserving rare and endangered species. Thus, economic techniques are available to perform broad-based benefit-cost analyses of species preservation. However, the Safe Minimum Standard approach is offered as an alternative for endangered species preservation decisions. The values reported in this paper are most useful to assess whether the costs are likely to be disproportionate to the benefits. To date, for even the most expensive endangered species preservation effort (e.g., the northern spotted owl) the costs per household fall well below the benefits per household found in the literature.
On the eve of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, it is timely to assess progress over the 10 years since its predecessor in Rio de Janeiro. Loss and degradation of remaining natural habitats has continued largely unabated. However, evidence has been accumulating that such systems generate marked economic benefits, which the available data suggest exceed those obtained from continued habitat conversion. We estimate that the overall benefit:cost ratio of an effective global program for the conservation of remaining wild nature is at least 100:1.
Contingent valuation (CV) is a survey-based method frequently used for placing monetary values on environmental goods and services not bought and sold in the marketplace. CV is usually the only feasible method for including passive use considerations in an economic analysis, a practice that has engendered considerable controversy. The issue of what a CV study tries to value is first addressed from the perspective of a policymaker and then the controversy over the inclusion of passive use is taken up in more detail. The major issues and positions taken in the technical debate over the use of CV are summarized from a user's perspective. Key design and implementation issues involved in undertaking a CV survey are examined and the reader is provided with a set of factors to examine in assessing the quality of a CV study.
Recommendations for the construction of perimeter fencing and pre-release holding facility fences and basic management criteria for the reintroduction of African wild dogs to reserves and game ranches
- M Hofmeyr
Hofmeyr, M., 2000. Recommendations for the construction of
perimeter fencing and pre-release holding facility fences and basic
management criteria for the reintroduction of African wild dogs to
reserves and game ranches. Unpublished report. Wild dog Action
Group-SA, Johannesburg.
The 1999/2000 Kruger National Park wild dog photographic survey. Unpublished report. South African National Parks
- H T Davies
Davies, H.T., 2000. The 1999/2000 Kruger National Park wild dog
photographic survey. Unpublished report. South African National
Parks, Skukuza.
Conserving wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) outside state protected areas in South Africa: ecological, sociological and economic determinants of success
- P A Lindsey
Lindsey, P.A., 2003. Conserving wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) outside
state protected areas in South Africa: ecological, sociological and
economic determinants of success. Ph.D. Thesis, University of
Pretoria, Pretoria.