Looking below the surface: The cultural ecosystem service values of UK marine protected areas (MPAs)

Niels Jobstvogt; Verity Watson; Jasper O. Kenter

doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.09.006

Looking below the surface: The cultural ecosystem service values of UK marine protected areas (MPAs)

Niels Jobstvogt, Verity Watson, Jasper O. Kenter

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Recreational users appreciate the UK marine environment for its cultural ecosystem services (CES) and their use and non-use values. UK Governments are currently establishing a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) informed by ecological data and socio-economic evidence. Evidence on CES values is needed, but only limited data have been available. We present a case study from the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) follow-on phase that elicited divers’ and anglers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for potential MPAs. The case study is an innovative combination of a travel-cost based choice experiment and an attribute-based contingent valuation method. Our study design allowed us to understand the marine users’ preferences from both a user and a stewardship perspective. Following the UK NEA’s place-based CES framework, we characterised marine CES as environmental spaces that might be protected, with features including the underwater seascape, and iconic and non-iconic species. Our survey highlighted the importance of CES to divers and anglers. A wide variety of marine spaces influenced user-WTP, while stewardship-WTP was most influenced by management restrictions, species protection, and attitudes towards marine conservation. An understanding of key stakeholders’ CES values can inform a more holistic and sustainable approach to marine management, especially for decisions involving trade-offs between marine protection and opportunity costs of the blue economy.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	97-110
Number of pages	14
Journal	Ecosystem Services
Volume	10
Early online date	21 Oct 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.09.006
Publication status	Published - Dec 2014

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the UK Natural Environment, Economic and Social, and Arts and Humanities Research Councils, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Welsh Government as part of the Shared, Plural and Cultural Values work package of the UK National Ecosystem Assessment follow-on-phase (www.lwec.org.uk/sharedvalues). Additional funding was provided by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation through the Marine Conservation Society. Many thanks to Althea Davies (University of Aberdeen, currently University of St. Andrews), Ros Bryce (University of Aberdeen, currently University of the Highlands and Islands), Mike Christie (Aberystwyth University), Mandy Ryan (University of Aberdeen), Susan Ranger, Jean-Luc Solandt and Calum Duncan (Marine Conservation Society), Sophie Rolls and Rebecca Clark (Natural England), Mansi Konar (Defra) and Kerry Turner (University of East Anglia) for advising on the research design, and Alison Dando (British Sub-Aqua Club) and David Mitchell (Angling Trust) for their indispensable help with mobilising respondents. We are also grateful to the participants of our online survey and focus groups for their time and effort.

Keywords

attribute-based contingent valuation method
choice experiment
travel cost
marine biodiversity
cultural ecosystem services
recreation

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.09.006Licence: CC BY

Looking Below the Surface
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Final published version, 1.28 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "Recreational users appreciate the UK marine environment for its cultural ecosystem services (CES) and their use and non-use values. UK Governments are currently establishing a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) informed by ecological data and socio-economic evidence. Evidence on CES values is needed, but only limited data have been available. We present a case study from the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) follow-on phase that elicited divers{\textquoteright} and anglers{\textquoteright} willingness to pay (WTP) for potential MPAs. The case study is an innovative combination of a travel-cost based choice experiment and an attribute-based contingent valuation method. Our study design allowed us to understand the marine users{\textquoteright} preferences from both a user and a stewardship perspective. Following the UK NEA{\textquoteright}s place-based CES framework, we characterised marine CES as environmental spaces that might be protected, with features including the underwater seascape, and iconic and non-iconic species. Our survey highlighted the importance of CES to divers and anglers. A wide variety of marine spaces influenced user-WTP, while stewardship-WTP was most influenced by management restrictions, species protection, and attitudes towards marine conservation. An understanding of key stakeholders{\textquoteright} CES values can inform a more holistic and sustainable approach to marine management, especially for decisions involving trade-offs between marine protection and opportunity costs of the blue economy.",

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N1 - Acknowledgements This research was funded by the UK Natural Environment, Economic and Social, and Arts and Humanities Research Councils, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Welsh Government as part of the Shared, Plural and Cultural Values work package of the UK National Ecosystem Assessment follow-on-phase (www.lwec.org.uk/sharedvalues). Additional funding was provided by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation through the Marine Conservation Society. Many thanks to Althea Davies (University of Aberdeen, currently University of St. Andrews), Ros Bryce (University of Aberdeen, currently University of the Highlands and Islands), Mike Christie (Aberystwyth University), Mandy Ryan (University of Aberdeen), Susan Ranger, Jean-Luc Solandt and Calum Duncan (Marine Conservation Society), Sophie Rolls and Rebecca Clark (Natural England), Mansi Konar (Defra) and Kerry Turner (University of East Anglia) for advising on the research design, and Alison Dando (British Sub-Aqua Club) and David Mitchell (Angling Trust) for their indispensable help with mobilising respondents. We are also grateful to the participants of our online survey and focus groups for their time and effort.

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N2 - Recreational users appreciate the UK marine environment for its cultural ecosystem services (CES) and their use and non-use values. UK Governments are currently establishing a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) informed by ecological data and socio-economic evidence. Evidence on CES values is needed, but only limited data have been available. We present a case study from the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) follow-on phase that elicited divers’ and anglers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for potential MPAs. The case study is an innovative combination of a travel-cost based choice experiment and an attribute-based contingent valuation method. Our study design allowed us to understand the marine users’ preferences from both a user and a stewardship perspective. Following the UK NEA’s place-based CES framework, we characterised marine CES as environmental spaces that might be protected, with features including the underwater seascape, and iconic and non-iconic species. Our survey highlighted the importance of CES to divers and anglers. A wide variety of marine spaces influenced user-WTP, while stewardship-WTP was most influenced by management restrictions, species protection, and attitudes towards marine conservation. An understanding of key stakeholders’ CES values can inform a more holistic and sustainable approach to marine management, especially for decisions involving trade-offs between marine protection and opportunity costs of the blue economy.

AB - Recreational users appreciate the UK marine environment for its cultural ecosystem services (CES) and their use and non-use values. UK Governments are currently establishing a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) informed by ecological data and socio-economic evidence. Evidence on CES values is needed, but only limited data have been available. We present a case study from the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) follow-on phase that elicited divers’ and anglers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for potential MPAs. The case study is an innovative combination of a travel-cost based choice experiment and an attribute-based contingent valuation method. Our study design allowed us to understand the marine users’ preferences from both a user and a stewardship perspective. Following the UK NEA’s place-based CES framework, we characterised marine CES as environmental spaces that might be protected, with features including the underwater seascape, and iconic and non-iconic species. Our survey highlighted the importance of CES to divers and anglers. A wide variety of marine spaces influenced user-WTP, while stewardship-WTP was most influenced by management restrictions, species protection, and attitudes towards marine conservation. An understanding of key stakeholders’ CES values can inform a more holistic and sustainable approach to marine management, especially for decisions involving trade-offs between marine protection and opportunity costs of the blue economy.

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KW - choice experiment

KW - travel cost

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KW - cultural ecosystem services

KW - recreation

U2 - 10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.09.006

DO - 10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.09.006

M3 - Article

SN - 2212-0416

VL - 10

SP - 97

EP - 110

JO - Ecosystem Services

JF - Ecosystem Services

ER -

Looking below the surface: The cultural ecosystem service values of UK marine protected areas (MPAs)

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Cite this