TY - JOUR
T1 - From boutique to mainstream
T2 - Upscaling wildlife-friendly farming through consumer premiums
AU - Herring, Matthew W.
AU - Garnett, Stephen T.
AU - Zander, Kerstin K.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Programme (NESP) through the Threatened Species Recovery Hub. Matthew W. Herring was also funded through an Australian Postgraduate Award from Charles Darwin University (CDU). The authors would like to thank family, friends, and colleagues who completed the pre‐test.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Conservation Science and Practice published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - Wildlife-friendly produce shows promise in addressing the disconnect between consumers' choices and the loss of biodiversity from agriculture. However, the scope of programs and their contribution to conservation remain limited. An improved understanding of specific markets, combined with auspicious scenarios, could address this. In Australia's Murray-Darling Basin, rice fields support the largest known breeding population of the Australasian bittern, a globally endangered waterbird. We surveyed 1478 Australian consumers about their values for “bittern-friendly” rice. To help support successful bittern breeding, consumers' mean willingness-to-pay for a 1-kg product, normally $3.00, was $4.12—a premium of 37%—while the inferred valuation for their nearest neighbor was $3.79, a 26% premium. In a choice experiment, rice directly sourced from bittern-friendly rice growers attracted the highest premium, approaching 200%, but conventional rice with indirect support for bittern-friendly growers was also highly valued. Consumers valued endorsement and certification labels from all organizations more than individual ones, and would pay additional premiums for reduced pesticide use or organic products. Feasibility of broad-scale, consumer-funded incentive programs is emphasized by an engaging narrative and a supportive, cohesive rice industry. Similar opportunities likely exist where consumers can be central to endangered species conservation, expanding wildlife-friendly farming coverage.
AB - Wildlife-friendly produce shows promise in addressing the disconnect between consumers' choices and the loss of biodiversity from agriculture. However, the scope of programs and their contribution to conservation remain limited. An improved understanding of specific markets, combined with auspicious scenarios, could address this. In Australia's Murray-Darling Basin, rice fields support the largest known breeding population of the Australasian bittern, a globally endangered waterbird. We surveyed 1478 Australian consumers about their values for “bittern-friendly” rice. To help support successful bittern breeding, consumers' mean willingness-to-pay for a 1-kg product, normally $3.00, was $4.12—a premium of 37%—while the inferred valuation for their nearest neighbor was $3.79, a 26% premium. In a choice experiment, rice directly sourced from bittern-friendly rice growers attracted the highest premium, approaching 200%, but conventional rice with indirect support for bittern-friendly growers was also highly valued. Consumers valued endorsement and certification labels from all organizations more than individual ones, and would pay additional premiums for reduced pesticide use or organic products. Feasibility of broad-scale, consumer-funded incentive programs is emphasized by an engaging narrative and a supportive, cohesive rice industry. Similar opportunities likely exist where consumers can be central to endangered species conservation, expanding wildlife-friendly farming coverage.
KW - choice experiment
KW - conservation marketing
KW - eco-label
KW - willingness to pay
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85130503293&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/csp2.12730
DO - 10.1111/csp2.12730
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85130503293
SN - 2578-4854
VL - 4
SP - 1
EP - 14
JO - Conservation Science and Practice
JF - Conservation Science and Practice
IS - 7
M1 - e12730
ER -