Journal Article

Economic Valuation of Subsistence Harvest of Wildlife in Madagascar

KREMEN, CLAIRE, RODOLPH RASOLOFONIAINA, B. J., GOLDEN, CHRISTOPHER D., BRASHARES, JUSTIN S., BONDS, MATTHEW H.

2014

Overview

Wildlife consumption can be viewed as an ecosystem provisioning service (the production of a material good through ecological functioning) because of wildlife's ability to persist under sustainable levels of harvest. We used the case of wildlife harvest and consumption in northeastern Madagascar to identify the distribution of these services to local households and communities to further our understanding of local reliance on natural resources. We inferred these benefits from demand curves built with data on wildlife sales transactions. On average, the value of wildlife provisioning represented 57% of annual household cash income in local communities from the Makira Natural Park and Masoala National Park, and harvested areas produced an economic return of U.S.$0.42 ha⁻¹· year⁻¹. Variability in value of harvested wildlife was high among communities and households with an approximate 2 orders of magnitude difference in the proportional value of wildlife to household income. The imputed price of harvested wildlife and its consumption were strongly associated (p< 0.001), and increases in price led to reduced harvest for consumption. Heightened monitoring and enforcement of hunting could increase the costs of harvesting and thus elevate the price and reduce consumption of wildlife. Increased enforcement would therefore be beneficial to biodiversity conservation but could limit local people's food supply. Specifically, our results provide an estimate of the cost of offsetting economic losses to local populations from the enforcement of conservation policies. By explicitly estimating the welfare effects of consumed wildlife, our results may inform targeted interventions by public health and development specialists as they allocate sparse funds to support regions, households, or individuals most vulnerable to changes in access to wildlife. Valoración Económica de la Caza de Subsistencia de Vida Silvestre en Madagascar

• Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Ltd,Wiley Periodicals Inc,Wiley-Blackwell
• Subject: Agricultural prices / Animal, plant and microbial ecology / Animals / Applied ecology / Biodiversity / Biodiversity conservation / Biological and medical sciences / bushmeat / carne de caza / caza / conservación de vida silvestre / Conservation biology / Conservation of Natural Resources / Conservation of Natural Resources - economics / Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife / Consumer prices / Contributed Papers / curva de demanda / demand curve / Demand curves / development targeting / Ecological function / economic valuation / Economics / ecosystem services / ecosystems / enfoque de desarrollo / Enforcement / Environmental policy / Exploitation and management of natural biological resources (hunting, fishing and exploited populations survey, etc.) / Family income / Food / food availability / Food Supply / Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology / General aspects / harvesting / household income / Households / Humans / Hunting / issues and policy / Local communities / Local population / Madagascar / Mammals / Mammals - physiology / microeconomics / microeconomía / monitoring / National parks / Natural resources / Parks, reserves, wildlife conservation. Endangered species: population survey and restocking / people / physiology / prices / protected areas / Provisioning ecosystem services / Public health / Rural Population / sales / servicios ecosistémicos / Wildlife / Wildlife biology / Wildlife conservation / wildlife management / Wildlife studies / áreas protegidas