TY - JOUR

T1 - Protected Area Certificates

T2 - Gaining Ground for Better Ecosystem Protection?

AU - Segerstedt, Anna

AU - Grote, Ulrike

PY - 2015/6

Y1 - 2015/6

N2 - Protected areas are vital to sustain a number of ecosystem services. Yet, many protected areas are underfinanced and lack management effectiveness. Protected area certificates have been suggested as a way to resolve these problems. This instrument would allow land managers to certify an area if it meets certain conservation criteria. The certificates could then be sold on an international market, for example to companies and any consumers that are interested in environmental protection. Some pilot initiatives have been launched, yet little is known about future demand and features of protected area certificates. To fill this knowledge gap, we conduct a choice experiment with close to 400 long-distance tourists from Germany as a potential group of buyers. Our results indicate that the respondents have the highest willingness to pay for certificates that conserve sensitive ecosystems and in addition to this lead to poverty reduction and safeguard water resources. For other attributes such as a greenhouse gas reduction, the preferences are less significant. Overall, the results are rather homogenous irrespective of where the protected areas are located. These insights are important for the future design and marketing of protected area certificates.

AB - Protected areas are vital to sustain a number of ecosystem services. Yet, many protected areas are underfinanced and lack management effectiveness. Protected area certificates have been suggested as a way to resolve these problems. This instrument would allow land managers to certify an area if it meets certain conservation criteria. The certificates could then be sold on an international market, for example to companies and any consumers that are interested in environmental protection. Some pilot initiatives have been launched, yet little is known about future demand and features of protected area certificates. To fill this knowledge gap, we conduct a choice experiment with close to 400 long-distance tourists from Germany as a potential group of buyers. Our results indicate that the respondents have the highest willingness to pay for certificates that conserve sensitive ecosystems and in addition to this lead to poverty reduction and safeguard water resources. For other attributes such as a greenhouse gas reduction, the preferences are less significant. Overall, the results are rather homogenous irrespective of where the protected areas are located. These insights are important for the future design and marketing of protected area certificates.

KW - Biodiversity

KW - Carbon offsets

KW - Certificates

KW - Choice experiment

KW - Protected areas

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84930216184&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s00267-015-0476-2

DO - 10.1007/s00267-015-0476-2

M3 - Article

C2 - 25868572

AN - SCOPUS:84930216184

VL - 55

SP - 1418

EP - 1432

JO - Environmental management

JF - Environmental management

SN - 0364-152X

IS - 6

ER -