Public preferences for conservation of endangered Borneo Pygmy elephant in Sukau Kinabatangan, Sabah, Malaysia
The recent deaths of Pygmy elephants in Sabah have raised concerns about the state's reputation as a nature conservationist. The elephants are becoming increasingly exposed to humans as forests are cleared for development, potentially leading to more conflict between humans and the animals....
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/114011/1/114011.pdf |
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| Summary: | The recent deaths of Pygmy elephants in Sabah have raised concerns about the state's
reputation as a nature conservationist. The elephants are becoming increasingly exposed
to humans as forests are cleared for development, potentially leading to more conflict
between humans and the animals. With only between 1,500 and 2,000 Pygmy elephants
left in the wild, conservation efforts are crucial.
To protect the Pygmy elephants in Sukau Kinabatangan, a study was conducted to assess
public preferences and conservation values for the species. The study objectives: i) to
estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) value and preferences for conservation
management of Borneo Pygmy elephants, ii) to examine the influence of wildlife value
orientation on risk perception, and iii) to investigate the mediation effects of specific
positive beliefs between wildlife value orientation and risk perception.
This study used the Choice Experiment (CE) method and the Structural Equation
Modeling with Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS) to assess the responses of 400 Sukau
residents and 401 visitors. The CE method was used to estimate the WTP value and
preferences for conservation management of the Borneo Pygmy Elephant, and the SEMPLS
was used to examine the influence of wildlife value orientation on risk perception
and the mediation effects of specific positive beliefs between wildlife value orientation
and risk perception.
This study found that local people most preferred attributes is to increase the number of
populations to 3,000 with the marginal value of RM4.55 and visitors preferred
systematic fencing as the most preferred attribute with the marginal values of RM19.53.
This study also found that domination positively influenced risk perception for both local
people and visitor respondents. However, the results did not find any support between
mutualism and risk perceptions for visitor samples. This indicates that domination
wildlife value orientation was related to risk perception in both groups of respondents.
Furthermore, the mediation effects of specific positive beliefs between wildlife value
orientation and risk perception were also investigated. The study found that mutualism
positively influenced specific positive beliefs, specific positive beliefs negatively
influenced risk perceptions, domination positively influenced risk perceptions, and
domination negatively influenced risk perceptions mediated by specific positive beliefs
of Borneo Pygmy elephants.
The study recommends policy changes based on the results. As the public is willing to
pay for the conservation of Pygmy elephants, policymakers could consider charging a
conservation fee in the future based on the most preferred attributes selected by locals
and visitors. The study also emphasizes the importance of taking into account human
orientation and beliefs when designing conservation programs. The findings suggest that
policymakers should design conservation programs that can create more positive
perceptions and beliefs about the Borneo Pygmy elephant to avoid extinction in the
future. |
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