Abstract

A successful implementation of a mammalian conservation policy requires knowledge of how people value animals. Little is known about how people value large carnivores. The discussion is therefore dominated by people's perception of wolves. In a mail survey (65% response rate) we asked persons residing in areas with populations of wolves, bears, lynx, and wolverines whether they were willing to pay to reach the national conservation goals for those species. We compared 69 Swedish counties with a representative national sample of Swedes living outside the areas with large carnivores. We found that the behavioral intention willingness to pay (WTP) was negatively related to the presence of wolves, to the urban profile, and to opposition against the European Union Monetary Union. We encourage future studies to compare national surveys with local samples in controversial issues to discover conflicting views among national, regional, and local natural resource management stakeholders.

Keywords

brown bears; Canis lupus; carnivore conservation; experience; Gulo gulo; local scale; Lynx lynx; NIMBY; rural; symbol; urban; Ursus arctos; willingness to pay; wolverines; wolves

Published in

Society and Natural Resources
2008, Volume: 21, number: 4, pages: 294-309
Publisher: TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC

SLU Authors

• Ericsson, Göran

  • Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Kindberg, Jonas

  • Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Bostedt, Göran

  • Department of Forest Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Economics
Ecology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920701861266

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/63130