Open Collections

UBC Faculty Research and Publications

Characterizing tourism benefits associated with top predator conservation in coastal British Columbia Martone, Rebecca G.; Naidoo, Robin; Coyle, Theraesa; Stelzer, Bertine; Chan, Kai Ming Adam, 1975-

Abstract

Facing public concern over costs related to top predator reintroduction and conservation, ecosystem services such as ecotourism are often used to evoke benefits that outweigh or offset those costs. Quantifying these benefits using rigorous scientific methods can provide confidence to policy makers and other stakeholders that predators can in fact deliver positive outcomes to people living with them. However, evaluation of these benefits is often anecdotal or qualitative, and empirical quantifications are rare. (2) In coastal marine ecosystems, sea otter reintroduction is seen as a conservation success to some, but a bane to others. Sea otters’ contribution to tourism revenue is touted as a crucial ecosystem service benefit to offset the loss of shellfish harvesting and associated revenue, but remains unquantified, weakening the favourable reception of conservation action. (3) The potential economic benefits of sea otters associated with tourism and the extent to which benefits are realized were evaluated based on (a) choice experiment surveys of tourists and (b) interviews with tourism operators in British Columbia. (4) Sea otters were a strong factor in people’s choices regarding wildlife viewing and sea otters could have large benefits for local economies. Alongside socio-economic characteristics, tourism experience influences tourists’ preferences. Tourism operators did not perceive sea otters as strongly influencing tourist choice, highlighting the gap that can occur between the perception and reality of tourist preferences, leading to missed opportunities for the alignment of economic development with conservation actions

Item Metadata

Title
Characterizing tourism benefits associated with top predator conservation in coastal British Columbia
Creator
Martone, Rebecca G.; Naidoo, Robin; Coyle, Theraesa; Stelzer, Bertine; Chan, Kai Ming Adam, 1975-
Contributor
The University of British Columbia. Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory
Publisher
Wiley
Date Issued
2020-03-27
Description
Facing public concern over costs related to top predator reintroduction and conservation, ecosystem services such as ecotourism are often used to evoke benefits that outweigh or offset those costs. Quantifying these benefits using rigorous scientific methods can provide confidence to policy makers and other stakeholders that predators can in fact deliver positive outcomes to people living with them. However, evaluation of these benefits is often anecdotal or qualitative, and empirical quantifications are rare. (2) In coastal marine ecosystems, sea otter reintroduction is seen as a conservation success to some, but a bane to others. Sea otters’ contribution to tourism revenue is touted as a crucial ecosystem service benefit to offset the loss of shellfish harvesting and associated revenue, but remains unquantified, weakening the favourable reception of conservation action. (3) The potential economic benefits of sea otters associated with tourism and the extent to which benefits are realized were evaluated based on (a) choice experiment surveys of tourists and (b) interviews with tourism operators in British Columbia. (4) Sea otters were a strong factor in people’s choices regarding wildlife viewing and sea otters could have large benefits for local economies. Alongside socio-economic characteristics, tourism experience influences tourists’ preferences. Tourism operators did not perceive sea otters as strongly influencing tourist choice, highlighting the gap that can occur between the perception and reality of tourist preferences, leading to missed opportunities for the alignment of economic development with conservation actions
Subject
coastal; ocean; ecosystem services; recovery; mammals; recreation
Genre
Article; Postprint
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2021-06-08
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0398281
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/78556
Affiliation
Science, Faculty of; Non UBC; Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for
Citation
Martone, R.G., R. Naidoo, T. Coyle, B. Stelzer and K.M.A. Chan (2020). "Characterizing tourism benefits associated with top-predator conservation in coastal British Columbia." Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 30(6): 1208-1219
Publisher DOI
10.1002/aqc.3320
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Postdoctoral; Graduate; Undergraduate
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

Item Media

Item Citations and Data

Rights

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International