Volume 118, October 01, 2016, Pages 159-167
a
Centre for Environmental and Sustainability Research (CENSE),
Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus
de Caparica, Caparica, Portugal
b Department of Environmental Economics, Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1087, HV Amsterdam, Netherlands
c Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
b Department of Environmental Economics, Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1087, HV Amsterdam, Netherlands
c Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Abstract
Landowner preferences
are elicited for different contractual agri-environmental agreements
(AEA) using choice experiments in the Portuguese
montados, an agro-forestry ecosystem with high conservation value. The
choice experiment is developed with the help of biologists from local
environmental authorities and builds upon existing AEA in the Portuguese
Rural Development Program ProDeR implemented at Natura 2000
conservation sites. Current uptake rates of AEA for montado conservation
are very low. The study's main objective is to assess how varying the
institutional-economic terms and conditions underlying current contract
design can increase this uptake. We find demand for AEA inside and
outside the currently designated protection areas, but there exist clear
trade-offs between willingness to accept financial compensation and
opportunity costs measured through varying cattle and oak tree density
levels. Also contract duration plays a significant role. Minimum
willingness to accept financial compensation for a hypothetical scenario
representing the current contract conditions in the region is more than
six times higher than the actual payment levels under the existing
agri-environmental agreements. © 2015 Elsevier B.V.
Author keywords
Agri-environmental agreements; Biodiversity conservation; Choice experiment; Compensation; Montado ecosystem; Rural development
Indexed keywords
GEOBASE Subject Index: agri-environmental policy;
agroforestry; conservation planning; conservation status; cost analysis;
landowner; rural development
Regional Index: Portugal
Species Index: Bos
