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Title Economic valuation of subsistence harvest of wildlife in Madagascar.
Full text https://escholarship.org/uc/item/58240979
Date 2014
Author(s) Golden, Christopher D; Golden, Christopher D; Bonds, Matthew H; Brashares, Justin S; Rasolofoniaina, BJ Rodolph; Kremen, Claire
Abstract Wildlife consumption can be viewed as an ecosystem provisioning service (the production of a material good through ecological functioning) because of wildlife's ability to persist under sustainable levels of harvest. We used the case of wildlife harvest and consumption in northeastern Madagascar to identify the distribution of these services to local households and communities to further our understanding of local reliance on natural resources. We inferred these benefits from demand curves built with data on wildlife sales transactions. On average, the value of wildlife provisioning represented 57% of annual household cash income in local communities from the Makira Natural Park and Masoala National Park, and harvested areas produced an economic return of U.S.$0.42 ha(-1) · year(-1). Variability in value of harvested wildlife was high among communities and households with an approximate 2 orders of magnitude difference in the proportional value of wildlife to household income. The imputed price of harvested wildlife and its consumption were strongly associated (p< 0.001), and increases in price led to reduced harvest for consumption. Heightened monitoring and enforcement of hunting could increase the costs of harvesting and thus elevate the price and reduce consumption of wildlife. Increased enforcement would therefore be beneficial to biodiversity conservation but could limit local people's food supply. Specifically, our results provide an estimate of the cost of offsetting economic losses to local populations from the enforcement of conservation policies. By explicitly estimating the welfare effects of consumed wildlife, our results may inform targeted interventions by public health and development specialists as they allocate sparse funds to support regions, households, or individuals most vulnerable to changes in access to wildlife.
Subject(s) Animals; Mammals; Humans; Conservation of Natural Resources; Biodiversity; Food Supply; Rural Population; Madagascar; bushmeat; carne de caza; caza; conservación de vida silvestre; curva de demanda; demand curve; development targeting; ecosystem services; enfoque de desarrollo; hunting; microeconomics; microeconomía; protected areas; servicios ecosistémicos; wildlife conservation; áreas protegidas; Ecology; Environmental Sciences; Biological Sciences; Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences
Coverage 234 - 243
Publisher eScholarship, University of California
Type of publication article
Format application/pdf
Source Conservation biology: the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology, vol 28, iss 1
Rights public
Identifier qt58240979
Repository Berkeley - University of California
Added to C-A: 2020-01-22;09:35:31