Stakeholder Perceptions and Preferences for Coral Reef Restoration and Sustainable Resource Management

Abstract

Professor Pallab Mozumder, Major ProfessorThe Florida Reef and associated human community form a unique socioecological system. While this system represents great value to society, it is exposed to high levels of vulnerability. Despite intense study of its elements, the system lacks conceptual integrity, its management is fragmented, and user valuation remains unclear.A survey using contingent valuation methods investigated stakeholders' attitudes and how much they are willing to pay for sustainable seafood, coral reef restoration, and research funding for coral reefs in southeastern Florida. Respondents expressed angst about climate change and reef conditions, and they connected reef degradation to land-based pollution and water quality. Regression analysis revealed status (income, education) as weak, indirect predictors of behavior, age as a moderating influence, and environmental and emotive factors as strong, direct predictors. One's relative attachment to ecosystems, such as coral reefs, is theorized as a motivation that displaces the expectations of traditional economic theory. iv The present investigation uses contingent valuation to assess preferences of residential reef users who live within the region adjacent to the coral reefs of Florida. TheFlorida Reef is one of the world's most popular coral reef systems in terms of tourism, and it is the only such ecosystem within the continental United States. Its popularity and its proximity to a large population are reflected in the ranking of the entire system as being under threat (Burke 2011).Although several relevant technical reports have been published within the past decade, sparse scientific literature addresses preferences and public perceptions of the Florida Reef. These reports reveal trends also appearing in the broader social science literature; namely, people lack an understanding of oceanic ecosystems; despite this knowledge deficit, they express support for oceanic conservation; and they are willing to pay more than current levies for the protection of coral reefs.The conception of the Florida Reef as one socio-ecological system is relatively new. In the academic arena, physical and social sciences traditionally have been segregated by discipline; likewise, the Florida Reef itself has been segregated into discontinuous segments to facilitate study. Mapping technology has enhanced an ability to portray both coral reef segments and the system as a whole; the first comprehensive, integrated GIS map of the Florida Reef was published the by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in 2013 (FWRI). Even the system's name is unclear, as the 3 scientific community uses "Florida Reef Tract" to refer to either the system or a northern sub-section. Hence, the current study avoids that term and favors adoption of the term "Florida Reef."Commonly associated with the Florida Keys, the Florida Reef forms an arc that parallels the Atlantic shoreline of southeastern Florida and extends north of Palm BeachCounty. This northern region lacks pr...