An assessment of the non-market value of reducing the risk of marine pest incursions in Australia's waters

Overview
This report provides an economic assessment of the potential environmental non-market benefits that could be gained from policy responses to improve marine biosecurity and can be used in future cost-benefit analyses of proposed marine biosecurity protection measures.

The attached AARES Conference paper supports a presentation by an ABARES officer at the recent AARES Conference held in Adelaide on 6-9 February 2018.

Key Issues

• The study finds that the Australian public places substantial value on the protection of the Australian environment from potential impacts of new marine pests. Individual households sampled in this study were on average willing to pay $16.3 per year to protect one species and $9.3 per 250 km of coastal area and adjacent waters protected assuming there is a 50 per cent chance that the outcome will occur. • For Australia, it is estimated that households together are willing to pay between $22.0 million and $58.8 million to protect one species and $12.5 million and $33.4 million per 250 km of coastal area and adjacent waters protected assuming there is a 50 per cent chance that the outcome will occur. • The expected value of the benefits from preventive action increased with probability of success, with this study finding that respondents place higher values on scenarios providing more environmental benefits and higher certainty that the particular outcomes will occur. • Comparing the benefits estimated in this study with the cost of prevention from other studies suggests that reducing the risk of marine pest incursions would be likely to provide a net benefit to the community, although each case should be assessed on its merits and specific circumstances.