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7 OPTION AND NON-USE VALUE Option value is the ‘future use value” that could be derived from the area, but which as yet to be realised. Maintaining biodiversity is believed to retain the option to generate such values in future. These values could be, for example, from the exploitation of hitherto unexploited species, the discovery of important genetic material of use in the pharmaceutical industry, or the future tourism or development potential of the area. It is not possible to measure option value, since no-one can predict the future, but it is important to bear this in mind as a potential opportunity cost of degradation. Existence value is the appreciation people derive from the knowledge that something exists, while bequest value is the value derived from knowing that one’s children will be able to enjoy something in the future. The growing popularity of the environmental movement indicates the substantial worth of biodiversity, particularly verified by people’s willingness to donate to help protect species and ecosystems they have never, and will never, directly interact with. The Okavango Delta contains noteworthy biodiversity, although it is not particularly well endowed with endemism. Perhaps the greatest attribute of the delta in this regard is its extent and intactness as a wilderness area. Anything that impinges on this pristine character is likely to affect the utility derived by people from this area. Value may also be placed on the intactness of traditional peoples and practices. Much of the traditional culture persists and is a source of pride. Degradation of the wetland and its resources might ultimately lead to some degree of cultural decay. This decay could result from the loss of traditional plants for food and medicine, for example. Other more abstract impacts may result from the breakdown of gender roles without re-enforcement of such activities as hunting and collecting or a widening rich-poor disparity. Estimating the existence value (including bequest value) of the Okavango Delta would require a substantial undertaking, involving the use of contingent valuation, a survey based method (Arrow et al. 1993). It would involve eliciting a willingness to pay from all those who derive such utility from the area. Since the Okavango Delta is of world renown, this should ideally be a global study. It is probable that the existence value among the international community far exceeds that of Botswana nationals’ existence value of the delta, or their ‘willingness to pay’ for its continued existence. The measurement of existence value was beyond the scope of this study. However, at least two studies have considered this problem at some level. Barnes (1996) surveyed visitors to Botswana and ascertained the amount they were willing to pay towards a conservation fund for Botswana’s wildlife. Tourists were willing to pay P125 on average, suggesting a total aggregate willingness to pay (WTP) among users alone of some P8 million (equivalent to about $4 million at the time). Mmopelwa (2005) conducted a contingent valuation survey in the Delta area in which both resident households and visitors were asked what they would be willing to pay to a conservation fund to ensure conservation of the Okavango Delta. Households were allowed to express this in terms of livestock or produce. Seventy percent of households and 33.3% of tourists had a positive WTP. Households had a mean WTP of just under P50, amounting to a total of about P53 000. Tourists had a mean WTP of about P1050, amounting to an estimated total of P13 million. Note that in both of these studies this is a once-off payment, and not an annual value. These estimates greatly underestimate the existence value of the delta, however, as they only reveal the WTP of those that people that happened to be visiting the delta in a particular year. In this regard, one could assume that similar WTP prevails for each new visitor to the delta, and given that most visits are once-off, that the values could be assumed to be annual as a minimum estimate. However, this still only considers visitors to the delta. There are a great deal more people, including many who cannot afford to visit the area, who would express a willingness to pay for conservation of this area. This would include both Botswana nationals and the global community. For example, the existence value of South African biodiversity is estimated to be at least $263 million per year to South Africans alone (Turpie 2003). Indeed, many studies have found that existence value exceeds the direct use value of ecosystems. Thus there is a strong case for conducting a proper study of the existence value of the Okavango Delta that takes the non-user community into account. 68
8 THE VALUE OF THE OKAVANGO DELTA IN THE ECONOMY OF BOTSWANA The results and discussions presented above cover the components of total economic value referred to in Chapter 3. This chapter summarises these findings, and examines the economic values of the study in the context of the economy of Botswana. It provides an opportunity to compare the different values, to measure the impact of the study area on rural livelihoods, to measure the impact of the study area on the broader economy, and to measure the value of the study area as a natural asset. 8.1 Total economic value of the delta in the Botswana economy Tables 8.1 and 8.2 contain summaries of all the direct use values of the study area. In Table 8.1, the values for the whole Ramsar Site are included, while Table 8.2 only includes those values attributable the wetland. In terms of direct use value, by far greatest values in Tables 8.1 and 8.2 are those for the use of the natural resource base for tourism. The gross output associated with tourism in the Ramsar site is estimated to be P1.1 billion, compared with P92 million for agricultural activities and P32 million for natural resource harvesting and processing. Most of the very high tourism output is attributable to the wetland (P1 billion). Nearly all the agricultural output in the Ramsar site is attributable to the upland areas, and only one thirtieth, P2.8 million, of it is attributable to the presence of the wetland. About half (P17 million) of the natural resource harvesting and processing output is attributable to the wetland. Tourism in the Ramsar site directly contributes an estimated P400 million to the Gross National Product (GNP) and most of this, some P363 million, is attributable to the actual wetland. Agricultural resource use, overwhelmingly dominated by livestock production in the Ramsar site, contributes an estimated P43 million to the gross national product. The contribution of the wetland to this is small, only P1.4 million. Natural resource use (harvesting and processing) in the Ramsar site contributes an estimated P29 million to the gross national product. The wetland contributes about half of this, or P15 million. In Chapter 6 we attempted to value the ecological services provided by the Ramsar site and the wetland. Only some of these indirect use values would be reflected in the conventional measures of the national economy. Thus, the value of the delta as a refuge for wildlife which is used off-site, specifically outside the Ramsar site, for tourism can be considered to contribute amounts to the gross national product that are additional to the tourism values described in Tables 8.1 and 8.2. Thus from Table 6-9, it can be seen that some P33 million of the trophy hunting turnover generated outside the Ramsar site is attributed to the presence of the delta. This would generate an estimated P18 million in gross value added to the national product. The effects of other ecological service values and the option and non-use values associated with the delta on the economy of Botswana are very difficult to estimate. Those that can be captured though appropriate international markets, such as carbon sequestration services, and the willingness to pay for delta preservation (option and existence values) can ultimately contribute to national income. 69
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Economic value of the Cover Okavang
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project was f
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# # # # # # # # # # typically quite
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household demographics, the relativ
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are harvested annually in the study
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3. Wise use, based on Ramsar planni
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5.4.5 Palms........................
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1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background The O
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• inform economically efficient p
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2 STUDY AREA 2.1 Location and exten
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Maunachira-Khwai) and thence into n
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2.2.5 Soils The soils of the delta
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Figure 2-3 Land use categories for
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# # # # # # # # # # Shakawe # # # #
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3 VALUATION FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLO
Page 33 and 34: other variable relevant for policy)
Page 35 and 36: 3.3.2.1 Focus group discussions and
Page 37 and 38: A total of 430 households from 12 v
Page 39 and 40: Income and Expenditure Survey, a ne
Page 41 and 42: WMAs pay a lease to the local gover
Page 43 and 44: Table 4-3 Estimated direct gross ou
Page 45 and 46: Table 5-3 Average numbers of dwelli
Page 47 and 48: Table 5-6. Average number and produ
Page 49 and 50: 5.3.2 Cropping Some 75% of househol
Page 51 and 52: N W SW SE C Table 5-15. Average val
Page 53 and 54: general consensus was that pottery
Page 55 and 56: Reed mats are used by a few househo
Page 57 and 58: price, and the resource generates s
Page 59 and 60: large quantities. This is a very im
Page 61 and 62: N W SW SE C Table 5-34. Estimated h
Page 63 and 64: Table 5-39 Relative proportion of d
Page 65 and 66: Mosepele (2005) recorded a fairly c
Page 67 and 68: The regulation of hunting stripped
Page 69 and 70: 5.5 The contribution of delta resou
Page 71 and 72: 6 INDIRECT USE VALUE 6.1 Indirect u
Page 73 and 74: 6.3 Indirect use values in the Okav
Page 75 and 76: estimate the net carbon sink of Aus
Page 77 and 78: Valuable migratory wildlife species
Page 79 and 80: External wildlife uses In order to
Page 81 and 82: Sanitary facilities are poorer. Alm
Page 83: Service Table 6-12. Summary of esti
Page 87 and 88: Table 8-2 Summary of the direct eco
Page 89 and 90: Ramsar site Wetland Rentals & royal
Page 91 and 92: The SAM can also provide an indicat
Page 93 and 94: 9.3 Description of selected scenari
Page 95 and 96: 9.3.4 Scenario 4. Wise use plus ups
Page 97 and 98: 9.4 Parameters under different scen
Page 99 and 100: 10 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Page 101 and 102: 11 REFERENCES Abril, A & Bucher, E.
Page 103 and 104: Mbaiwa, J.E. 2002. The socio-econom
Page 105 and 106: 12 GLOSSARY Abstraction - pumping w
Page 107 and 108: Profit - the difference between 'gr
Page 109 and 110: 14 APPENDIX 2. TOURISM OPERATIONS I
Page 111 and 112: 69 Wilderness Dawning 70 Wilmot Saf
Page 113 and 114: FINANCIAL/ECONOMIC MODEL - HIGH QUA
Page 123 and 124: 16 APPENDIX 4. THE SAFARI HUNTING E
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Table A5.1 Structure of a Social Ac
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The sum of this column is the total
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generation and household expenditur
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