Survey of north Australian graziers and pastoralists with choice experiment regarding participation in contractual biodiversity conservation

Full description

The contributions of farmers (pastoralists and graziers) is required to safeguard the iconic biodiversity of Australia's tropical savannas into the future because the conservation estate is insufficiently large or connected to achieve regional-scale conservation objectives. The primary land use of tropical savannas is extensive beef cattle grazing, which is defined as the north Australian pastoral industry. The purpose of this research is to establish the willingness of pastoralists and graziers to participate in contractual biodiversity conservation and estimate potential area supply for different conservation options. The research explores preferences for contract attributes and heterogeneity of preferences, and other influences on willingness to participate including business, social and psychological factors such as motivations, attitudes and risk perceptions. To that effect, a survey of pastoralists and graziers (n=104, area covered >250,000km2) was conducted, which contained a choice experiment. Methods of analysis included statistical analysis (descriptive, correlation & factor analysis, post-hoc comparisons) and econometric analysis (choice modelling: multinomial logit, random parameter logit, latent class).