Willingness to Pay for Nature Conservation Policies in State-Owned Forests: An Austrian Case Study

Forests

Jürgen Meyerhoff¹  Felix Schläpfer²  Michael Getzner³ 

[1] Center of Landscape Economics, Institute of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, Technische Universität Berlin, 10623 Berlin, Germany;Department of Business and Management, Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences, 8050 Zürich, Switzerland;Department of Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, Institute of Spatial Planning, Vienna University of Technology, 1040 Vienna, Austria;

关键词: state-owned forests;    Austria;    commercial forestry;    nature conservation;    willingness-to-accept/willingness to pay;    scenario design;   

DOI  :  10.3390/f9090537

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The Austrian Federal Forests (ÖBf), the Republic of Austria’s state-owned company, manages 15% of the Austrian forests; about 50% of the land is devoted to nature conservation. This paper presents the results of a representative survey of Austrian households ascertaining the acceptance of, preferences regarding, and willingness to pay for three different management scenarios. One program would increase commercial forestry, while two other programs would significantly enhance biodiversity conservation. The majority of respondents considers it an important task of state-owned forests to enhance biodiversity conservation. The study reveals that the preferences of the respondents are very heterogeneous. For instance, in addition to socio-economic characteristics, the willingness to pay for nature conservation depends on personal experiences and perceptions (e.g., whether respondents feel anxious in forests), political views (e.g., the acceptance of strict legal protection of natural resources), and opinions on forest policy issues (e.g., preferences regarding privatization of public land). The study places special emphasis on the thorough description and presentation of the scenarios to the respondents and is one of the first European studies to elicit opinions on forest policies regarding public land in an environmental valuation framework.

【 授权许可】

Unknown