WP3: Socioeconomics and hunting
- hunting as cash generator
Objectives:
To assess the economic importance of hunting and alternative forms of land use at a range of spatial scales.
About economics
- The values associated with hunting - summary of key messages
There is no doubt, hunting is big business. Whether the purpose of the hunt is for recreational purposes, tourist based trophy hunting, hunting for subsistence or poaching. On one hand there is the cost to hunting, whereas on the other hand there is the profit of the hunt. And this financial aspect in turn obviously contributes to the radical opinions and perceptions regarding hunting.
An important question that arises in the context of hunting and biodiversity is therefore the economic importance of hunting relative to alternative ways of managing hunting land. This comprises both market values (e.g. the value of meat, or the value of hunting permits) and non-market values (e.g. the value of hunting for the hunter, and conservation purposes, and the value for the habitats and biodiversity that land management for hunting generates).
For example, what is the economic value of a change in the access to hunting grounds? Or rather a change in management or institutional change? And how can these individual opinions be translated to measurable values? How much is a hunter willing to pay for a hunting permit? Or the other way around, how much compensation would the same person ask for in order to desist from hunting?
The economic component of HUNT will thus provide an analysis of the economic importance of hunting at different spatial scales, relative to the main drivers for other forms of land use, and examine value-based arguments informing economic preferences related to hunting. In turn, this will lead to the development of socioeconomic tools that aid biodiversity through hunting, and contribute to reducing conflicts regarding hunting and biodiversity.