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Community acceptance of biodiversity offsets: evidence from a choice experiment
Author(s) -
Burton Michael,
Rogers Abbie,
Richert Claire
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
australian journal of agricultural and resource economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.683
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-8489
pISSN - 1364-985X
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8489.12151
Subject(s) - biodiversity , offset (computer science) , commonwealth , geography , endangered species , environmental resource management , public economics , ecology , economics , computer science , habitat , biology , archaeology , programming language
This study of the community's acceptance of biodiversity offsets in A ustralia provides insights relevant to future revisions of offset policies of both S tate and C ommonwealth G overnments. A choice experiment was used to measure preferences for the general acceptability of offsetting, and for a number of attributes that define how an offset can be implemented. Based on a sample of 204 respondents from P erth, WA , we found that the majority of respondents did not object to the practice of biodiversity offsetting in general. A minority of respondents preferred that offset actions be direct, but most accepted a combination of direct and indirect actions. Individuals generally preferred that the offset be located near the site of impact, and it became more unacceptable the further away that it was located. However, there was heterogeneity in preferences for protecting the impacted species or a more endangered one.