Valuing environmental improvements in the Great Barrier Reef: Ecological and preference heterogeneity in local area case studies

The focus of this report is to test if protection values at a particular GBR site may be easily transferred to other case studies of interest in the region. The research involved valuing three local case studies in the GBR and testing how values were consistent across site and population characteristics. The sites were chosen to reflect substantial heterogeneity in extent, ecological composition and condition, while values were assessed for both local and distant populations. The results are encouraging, indicating that although significant heterogeneity was identified with the mixed logit models, values were robust to various site and population differences. No significant difference in protection values between the three local case studies could be identified, and there was no significant difference in values between the local population and the Brisbane population. However, some evidence for distance effects was identified for the Brisbane population, with closer sites valued more highly. As well, potential losses were valued more highly (in absolute terms) than potential gains. The implication of these results is that protection values are likely to be higher for closer reef areas with risks of losses than these with opportunities for improvements.