Total economic Vulture: The value of ecosystem services provided by vultures in Southern Africa

Africa is home to eleven species of vultures, seven of which face the risk of extinction and are listed as Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. The major threats are poisoning, belief-based use, electrocutions and collisions. The loss of vultures in Asia provided a window into a catastrophic scenario without vultures and the impact of the loss of the ecosystem services they provide. In the African context, there is a knowledge gap on the importance of vultures to humans and the impact that a loss of vultures would have. This paper attempts to fill this gap with an economic valuation of the ecosystem services provided by vultures in Southern Africa, with a focus on Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The ecosystem services addressed in the assessment include provisioning, regulating and cultural services. Data were collected through four surveys targeting different beneficiary groups: 1. local communities in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area; 2. the general public within each country; 3. the international public; and 4. rangers and park managers. A mix of valuation methods were used including discrete choice experiments, contingent valuation, avoided damage costs, replacement costs, and net factor income. The total economic value of ecosystem services in the three countries is estimated to be just over USD 250 million per year. This is largely attributed to existence and bequest values and the sanitation and pest control service provided by vultures. Although vultures are arguably not as charismatic as other species of interest in the continent, their conservation is highly important to the welfare and health of people in Southern Africa.