Choice of biodiversity indicators may affect societal support for conservation programs
Preservation and sustainable use of biodiversity brings multiple health, societal and economic benefits, including life-supporting services. Biodiversity indicators are important in framing the benefits of conservation and management programs and monitoring progress toward their outcomes. Biodiversi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X20311420 |
| _version_ | 1818743898465370112 |
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| author | María Martínez-Jauregui Julia Touza Piran C.L. White Mario Soliño |
| author_facet | María Martínez-Jauregui Julia Touza Piran C.L. White Mario Soliño |
| author_sort | María Martínez-Jauregui |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Preservation and sustainable use of biodiversity brings multiple health, societal and economic benefits, including life-supporting services. Biodiversity indicators are important in framing the benefits of conservation and management programs and monitoring progress toward their outcomes. Biodiversity indicators therefore provide useful tools for policymakers in helping to communicate the benefits of conservation to society but also in garnering public support for conservation. This research aimed to help improve our understanding of the role of biodiversity indicators in the way that they influence preferences towards conservation programs. A discrete choice experiment was used to estimate relative societal preferences towards multilevel dimensions of biodiversity in relation to the conservation of pine forests in the Spanish Iberian Peninsula. Results show that (i) the level of biodiversity indicator (within species, between species and within ecosystems) matters, (ii) indicators related to the biodiversity within ecosystems are valued the most, and (iii) the use of several biodiversity indicators together is generally better at delivering benefits to society, but the value of these is reduced where there is redundancy between them. Overall, the most preferred indicators were the area of land covered by the conservation project, the status of keystone ecosystem components, and the number of native species. Some indicators such as invasive alien species and genetic diversity are least preferred and may be less helpful to how conservation efforts are perceived by the citizens. By careful consideration of which biodiversity indicators to use, policymakers and conservation managers can maximize societal acceptability of public investments in conservation efforts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T02:35:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-87eab279910f4ae8ba5c1b8d35fe36ee |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T02:35:44Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj.art-87eab279910f4ae8ba5c1b8d35fe36ee2022-12-21T21:23:48ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2021-02-01121107203Choice of biodiversity indicators may affect societal support for conservation programsMaría Martínez-Jauregui0Julia Touza1Piran C.L. White2Mario Soliño3National Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Technology (INIA), Forest Research Centre (CIFOR), Ctra. de La Coruña km. 7.5, 28040 Madrid, Spain; IUFOR – Sustainable Forest Management Research Institute, University of Valladolid & INIA, Avda. de Madrid 57, 34004 Palencia, Spain; Corresponding author at: National Institute for Agriculture and Food Research and Technology (INIA), Forest Research Centre (CIFOR), Ctra. de La Coruña km. 7.5, 28040 Madrid, Spain.Department of Environment and Geography, University of York, Wentworth Way, York YO10 5NG, United KingdomDepartment of Environment and Geography, University of York, Wentworth Way, York YO10 5NG, United KingdomDepartment of Economic Analysis & ICEI, Faculty of Economics, Complutense University of Madrid, Campus de Somosaguas, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón, SpainPreservation and sustainable use of biodiversity brings multiple health, societal and economic benefits, including life-supporting services. Biodiversity indicators are important in framing the benefits of conservation and management programs and monitoring progress toward their outcomes. Biodiversity indicators therefore provide useful tools for policymakers in helping to communicate the benefits of conservation to society but also in garnering public support for conservation. This research aimed to help improve our understanding of the role of biodiversity indicators in the way that they influence preferences towards conservation programs. A discrete choice experiment was used to estimate relative societal preferences towards multilevel dimensions of biodiversity in relation to the conservation of pine forests in the Spanish Iberian Peninsula. Results show that (i) the level of biodiversity indicator (within species, between species and within ecosystems) matters, (ii) indicators related to the biodiversity within ecosystems are valued the most, and (iii) the use of several biodiversity indicators together is generally better at delivering benefits to society, but the value of these is reduced where there is redundancy between them. Overall, the most preferred indicators were the area of land covered by the conservation project, the status of keystone ecosystem components, and the number of native species. Some indicators such as invasive alien species and genetic diversity are least preferred and may be less helpful to how conservation efforts are perceived by the citizens. By careful consideration of which biodiversity indicators to use, policymakers and conservation managers can maximize societal acceptability of public investments in conservation efforts.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X20311420Choice experimentDiversity distributionGenetic diversityInvasive speciesKeystone speciesPine forest |
| spellingShingle | María Martínez-Jauregui Julia Touza Piran C.L. White Mario Soliño Choice of biodiversity indicators may affect societal support for conservation programs Ecological Indicators Choice experiment Diversity distribution Genetic diversity Invasive species Keystone species Pine forest |
| title | Choice of biodiversity indicators may affect societal support for conservation programs |
| title_full | Choice of biodiversity indicators may affect societal support for conservation programs |
| title_fullStr | Choice of biodiversity indicators may affect societal support for conservation programs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Choice of biodiversity indicators may affect societal support for conservation programs |
| title_short | Choice of biodiversity indicators may affect societal support for conservation programs |
| title_sort | choice of biodiversity indicators may affect societal support for conservation programs |
| topic | Choice experiment Diversity distribution Genetic diversity Invasive species Keystone species Pine forest |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X20311420 |
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