From the Abstract:
Human-wildlife interactions in urban areas, both positive and negative, often involve people and birds. We assess the economic value placed on interactions with common native songbirds in two different urban areas (Berlin, Germany and Seattle, Washington, USA) by combining a revealed preference (recalled expenditures on bird feed) and a stated preference approach (determining willingness to pay for conservation or reduction of birds). Residents in both cities purchase bird food, engage in a range of bird-supporting activities and are generally willing to pay a small amount for native songbird conservation. Demographic, cultural and socio-economic factors, as well as specific attitudes towards birds and general attitudes about conservation were found to influence these decisions. This study presents the first attempt at estimating the economic value of enjoying common native urban songbirds and estimates the lower bound to be about 120 million USD/year in Seattle and 70 million USD/year in Berlin.Another item from within the paper.
On the whole, our results suggest that a sizeable economic value is derived by urban populations from the presence of common, native, “backyard” songbirds. Furthermore, these birds can provide several indirect ecological services for humans such as seed dispersal (e.g., Hougner et al. 2006) and reducing insect pests (e.g., Heyman and Gunnarsson 2011), which if the value were to be estimated, would increase our estimates.
As we think about Morningside Lenox Park as a community encompassing a range of parks and preserves as well as hundreds of acres of gardens, it is worthwhile keeping a broad perspective. Song birds aren't just pretty. They are also part of an economic chain (birdseed purchases) a lifecycle (seed dispersal) and part of the ecological environment ( insect control).
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