TY - JOUR

T1 - Turtle Economic Value

T2 - The non-use value of marine turtles in the Asia-Pacific region

AU - Brander, Luke

AU - Eppink, Florian

AU - Hof, Christine Madden

AU - Bishop, Joshua

AU - Riskas, Kimberly

AU - Goñi, Victoria Guisado

AU - Teh, Lydia

AU - Teh, Louise

N1 - Funding Information: This study was commissioned by WWF-Australia under WWF's Marine Turtle Use and Trade Initiative, funded by Royal International Cruises Luke Brander reports financial support was provided by WWF Australia. Christine Madden Hof reports a relationship with WWF Australia that includes: employment. Joshua Bishop reports a relationship with WWF Australia that includes: employment. Kimberly Riskas reports a relationship with WWF Australia that includes: employment.This study was commissioned by WWF-Australia under WWF's Marine Turtle Use and Trade Initiative, funded by Royal International Cruises. We are sincerely grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their constructive and valuable comments. The underlying report also greatly benefited from expert reviews provided by Bryan Wallace and Andy Seidl. We are also indebted to several people for their invaluable research support: Thijs Dekker, Martina Feltracco, Susann Adloff, Zoe Wong and Yuanshan Lin. The preparation and distribution of the surveys involved the input of many people that we would like to thank: Ana-Maria Ionescu and Lavan Shatheeshkumaran at Ipsos; Bee Hong Yeo and Zara Phang for translation and distribution of the survey in Malaysia; Luat Do for translation and distribution in Vietnam; Zoey Zhang, Wei Yi Li and Yumeng Xiao for translation into Chinese; Astrid Ocampo and Laurence Delina for translation and distribution in the Philippines; Leimona Beria for translation and distribution in Indonesia; Duncan Williams, Laitia Tamata, Francis Areki, Ravai Vafo'ou and the rest of their survey team for coordinating and conducting face-to-face interviews in Fiji; Oscar Sanchez for translation to Spanish; Pieter van Beukering, Juha Siikamaki, Andy Seidl and many others for distributing the survey through their networks.

PY - 2024/5

Y1 - 2024/5

N2 - Marine turtle species in the Asia-Pacific region face loss of habitat, population decline and serious risk of extinction. Understanding the associated loss in human welfare can motivate conservation finance, policy reforms and other actions to protect and restore marine turtle populations. This paper estimates non-use values for marine turtles in the Asia-Pacific region using a large-sample (n = 7765) global household survey. The survey focused on six countries in the region (China, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam) but received responses from over 80 countries in total. A discrete choice experiment was used to elicit willingness-to-pay (WTP) for marine turtles, defined in terms of population trends (increasing, stable or declining) and species diversity (avoided extinctions). We find that a high proportion of households (82%) expressed a positive WTP for turtle conservation, and that the donation amounts are substantial. The median WTP for ensuring stable marine turtle populations, adjusted for demographic differences between the survey sample and the general population, is estimated at US $79 per household per year. A scenario analysis is used to estimate the economic welfare changes that would result from policy inaction (in which turtle populations continue to decline and two species become extinct) versus strong policy action (resulting in increasing turtle populations and no extinctions). The welfare loss that results from not acting is estimated to be US $40 billion per year, whereas the potential welfare gain from taking policy action to conserve, manage and protect marine turtles is estimated at US $55 billion per year. These results present a strong economic justification for governments across the region to align their environmental policies and budgets with Asia-Pacific peoples' stated WTP for turtle conservation.

AB - Marine turtle species in the Asia-Pacific region face loss of habitat, population decline and serious risk of extinction. Understanding the associated loss in human welfare can motivate conservation finance, policy reforms and other actions to protect and restore marine turtle populations. This paper estimates non-use values for marine turtles in the Asia-Pacific region using a large-sample (n = 7765) global household survey. The survey focused on six countries in the region (China, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam) but received responses from over 80 countries in total. A discrete choice experiment was used to elicit willingness-to-pay (WTP) for marine turtles, defined in terms of population trends (increasing, stable or declining) and species diversity (avoided extinctions). We find that a high proportion of households (82%) expressed a positive WTP for turtle conservation, and that the donation amounts are substantial. The median WTP for ensuring stable marine turtle populations, adjusted for demographic differences between the survey sample and the general population, is estimated at US $79 per household per year. A scenario analysis is used to estimate the economic welfare changes that would result from policy inaction (in which turtle populations continue to decline and two species become extinct) versus strong policy action (resulting in increasing turtle populations and no extinctions). The welfare loss that results from not acting is estimated to be US $40 billion per year, whereas the potential welfare gain from taking policy action to conserve, manage and protect marine turtles is estimated at US $55 billion per year. These results present a strong economic justification for governments across the region to align their environmental policies and budgets with Asia-Pacific peoples' stated WTP for turtle conservation.

KW - Asia-Pacific

KW - Discrete choice experiment

KW - Marine turtles

KW - Non-use values

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85185534599&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108148

DO - 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108148

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85185534599

VL - 219

JO - Ecological economics

JF - Ecological economics

SN - 0921-8009

M1 - 108148

ER -