An economic analysis of species conservation and translocation for island communities: the Seychelles paradise flycatchers as a case study

Abstract

In this paper we introduce a methodology for assessing the economic justification for translocation–conservation programmes for critically endangered species. We demonstrate our methodology by presenting an economic analysis of the critically endangered Seychelles paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone corvina) (hereafter SPF). To do this we first estimated the critical amenity value of the forest that currently supports the SPF. Results support the maintenance of the forest, which in turn implies that the existing population of SPF needs to be protected so as to achieve species conservation objectives. Next we conducted a benefit–cost analysis of the translocation, showing that the development of a second population yields net economic benefits. By employing the methodology presented we can conclude that our analysis indicates that current conservation and translocation actions to support the SPF are economically justified.

Keywords:

• species conservation and translocation
• benefit–cost analysis
• critical amenity value
• choice experiment

This research has been partly supported by a Darwin Initiative grant (15-009) from DEFRA, UK. We thank the Government of Seychelles Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Nature Seychelles, members of the La Digue Development Board, RSPB, RARE, Denis Island Limited, Wildlife Vets International and Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles.

Notes

1. Captive breeding was not a realistic option for the SPF which is an insectivorous passerine bird that requires highly specialised and intensive avicultural techniques (Bristol et al. 2009). However, there are also reasons to be critical of the use of translocation (see Ricciardi and Simberloff 2009), but in some circumstances it is the only remaining option for managing a species if it is to be saved from extinction.

2. Details of real estate prices obtained from various online sources such as http://www.seychelles-properties.com/listings/La_Digue.

3. In addition to the ADF test there are many other statistical tests that can be used to examine if data are stationary or not (Gujarati and Porter 2009). To assess the robustness of our result we implemented the ADF allowing lag length to be determined using information criteria, for example, AIC. We also conducted the Phillips–Perron (PP) and the KPSS tests. The more general ADF test was in agreement with the test results reported. However, both the PP and KPSS tests yielded much weaker results, only yielding results in support of the ADF results at the 10% level of significance. As such these results suggest the need to treat with some caution the assumption that the visitation data satisfy Brownian motion.

4. All financial estimates are presented as euros. We have assumed one euro buys US $1.25 and we have also converted 2004 data on prices into 2010 estimates using a Seychelles price deflator from the Central Bank of Seychelles (www.cbs.sc).

5. We note that the form of payment employed in the CE may not satisfy consequentiality (Vossler and Watson 2013). However, as observed by Haab et al. (2013) research on this issue to date has yielded mixed results in relation to impact on WTP estimates.

6. We also estimated 3 and 4 segment specifications. Although these models converged they yielded economically implausible results and as a result we report the LCM2.

7. Note that all estimates need to be multiplied by 100 as Price is divided by 100.

8. An alternative way to examine risks associated with the translocation activity could be to follow Joseph, Maloney, and Possingham (2008) who explicitly include an estimate of the likelihood of success of a conservation project in an evaluation framework. A related approach could be to conduct the BCA assuming that the probability of success is known (Pearce, Atkinson, and Mourato 2006). This type of approach was not adopted as the SPF has been translocated successfully.