The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area: its value to residents and tourists, and the effect of world prices on it

Transcription

1 Final Report The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area: its value to residents and tourists, and the effect of world prices on it Natalie Stoeckl, Marina Farr, Diane Jarvis, Silva Larson, Michelle Esparon, Hana Sakata, Taha Chaiechi, Hongbo Lui, Jon Brodie, Stephen Lewis, Putu Mustika, Vanessa Adams, Adriana Chacon, Melissa Bos, Bob Pressey, Ida Kubiszewski and Bob Costanza

2 The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area: its value to residents and tourists, and the effect of world prices on it Final report Natalie Stoeckl 1,2, Marina Farr 1,2, Diane Jarvis 1, Silva Larson 1, Michelle Esparon 1, Hana Sakata 7, Taha Chaiechi 1,2, Hongbo Lui 1, Jon Brodie 2, Stephen Lewis 2, Putu Mustika 1,3, Vanessa Adams 8, Adriana Chacon 1,6, Melissa Bos 6,1, Bob Pressey 6, Ida Kubiszewski 4 and Bob Costanza 4 1 College of Business, Law and Governance and the Cairns Institute, JCU 2 TROPWater, JCU 3 School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, JCU 4 Australian National University 5 Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority 6 ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies, JCU 7 Formerly with College of Business, Law and Governance, JCU; now with University of Technology, Sydney 8 University of Queensland Supported by the Australian Government s National Environmental Research Program Project 10.2 Socioeconomic systems and reef resilience

3 JCU National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: This report should be cited as: Stoeckl, N., Farr, M., Jarvis, D., Larson, S., Esparon, M., Sakata, H., Chaiechi, T., Lui, H., Brodie, J., Lewis, S., Mustika, P., Adams, V., Chacon, A., Bos, M., Pressey, B., Kubiszewski, I., Costanza, B. (2014). The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area: its value to residents and tourists Project 10-2 Socioeconomic systems and reef resilience. Final Report to the National Environmental Research Program. Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Limited, Cairns (68pp.). Published by the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre on behalf of the Australian Government s National Environmental Research Program (NERP) Tropical Ecosystems (TE) Hub. The Tropical Ecosystems Hub is part of the Australian Government s Commonwealth National Environmental Research Program. The NERP TE Hub is administered in North Queensland by the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Limited (RRRC). The NERP Tropical Ecosystem Hub addresses issues of concern for the management, conservation and sustainable use of the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and its catchments, tropical rainforests including the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (WTWHA), and the terrestrial and marine assets underpinning resilient communities in the Torres Strait, through the generation and transfer of world-class research and shared knowledge. This publication is copyright. The Copyright Act 1968 permits fair dealing for study, research, information or educational purposes subject to inclusion of a sufficient acknowledgement of the source. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government or the Minister for the Environment. While reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this publication. Cover photographs: M. Curnock This report is available for download from the NERP Tropical Ecosystems Hub website: December 2014

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18 GBR value to residents and tourists Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Background to activities A and B Identifying benefits for assessment Selecting appropriate valuation techniques Developing questionnaires Collecting data Description of respondents Chapter 3: Resident values (Activity A) How do residents benefit from the GBRWHA? The link between resident activities and benefits The total economic value of the GBRWHA The preservation value of the GBRWHA Resident Willingness to pay to protect the environment Potential impact of environmental degradation Chapter 4: Tourist values (Activity B) The importance of the GBR for destination competitiveness The potential impact of reef degradation on the tourism industry The potential impact of climate change on the tourism industry Water clarity, visitor satisfaction and repeat visitation Willingness to pay for improvements in water quality Willingness to pay for other improvements Chapter 5: The broader economy and the GBRWHA (Activity C) Relationship between rainfall and river discharge in the Burdekin River Catchment Is there evidence to suggest that prices affect the GBRWHA? Chapters 6 & 7: Synthesis, Conclusions and recommendations References and appendices (including a full list of project outputs) 3

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30 GBR value to residents and tourists 100 Percent of respondents Frequent user Rarely or never 15

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34 GBR value to residents and tourists valued at >= $4b per annum, each Primary Benefits Coral reefs, Reef fish, Iconic marine species, Mangroves; Clear oceans, No rubbish, Future generations Recreation Seafood, boating, fishing, beach/swimming Undeveloped & uncrowded beaches Indigenous cultural values Reef-based tourism Bragging rights Cheap shipping transport Commercial fishing Mining/ Agriculture Overall quality of life 19

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