Lincoln University Digital Thesis Copyright Statement The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). This thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: you will use the copy only for the purposes of research or private study you will recognise the author's right to be identified as the author of the thesis and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate you will obtain the author's permission before publishing any material from the thesis. • '_'_"~4 '.' An Analysis of the Costs of New Zealand :·::!-'i~;:..c· Threatened Species Programmes A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Applied Science At Lincoln University By E. Moran Lincoln University 2003 Abstract of a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of M. Appl. Sc. An Analysis of the Costs of New Zealand Threatened Species Programmes ByE. Moran The New Zealand Department of Conservation has so far classified 2,373 species and subspecies of those so far assessed as being threatened with extinction. Annual expenditure for management services for protected species and island habitats was NZ$35.8 million in 2001102. Some threatened species programmes, however, require far more funding than other programmes for species that are also at risk of extinction. Until now, the contribution of economics to threatened species conservation has focused on areas such as the value of threatened species and the opportunity costs of threatened species conservation in terms of economic development, and not the costs of management for threatened species. The aim of this research is to improve the formal understanding of the management costs by investigating the specific form of the cost function for threatened species programmes. The cost function is based on Swanson (1994) and describes the Present Value (PV) of the cost of a threatened species programme as a factor, inter alia, in a cost-benefit ranking criterion, which conceptualises threatened species conservation as a dynamic optimisation problem. It is proposed that the cost of a programme in a single time period is determined by the costs of the base natural resources and the management services needed to maximise ii the conservation of a threatened species; and that the cost of a programme over time is detennined by the costs in each time period and a species' extant population and recovery rate, which together act as a controlling mechanism on these costs. To investigate the specific form of the cost function, this research conducted a cross-case analysis of the costs of New Zealand threatened species programmes. Cost data was collected and analysed from a survey of the Department of Conservation's Recovery Group Leaders for eleven programmes from 2003 until 2012 and used to test hypotheses developed from the theorised characteristics of the cost function. Although the results of the cross-case analysis are subject to uncertainty, habitat area and a species' taxon are identified as two factors that detennine the specific costs of New Zealand threatened. species programmes. The results also indicate that many threatened species programmes receive minimal or partial funding and, as a consequence, the conservation of species may be delayed, which could increase the risk of further decline, or even extinction, of species and the total cost of the programme. It is recommended that estimates of costs are included in recovery plans, cost-effectiveness analysis of threatened species programmes is conducted, cost and a species' possible recovery rate are included as factors in priority ranking systems, and the costs of threatened species programmes are used in funding applications for threatened species conservation. Keywords New Zealand, threatened species, threatened species programme, management, conservation, economic analysis, cost, funding, budget constraint, opportunity cost, cost-benefit criterion, cost function, base resources, management services iii Acknowledgements My most sincere thanks go to my supervisors, Drs. Ross Cullen and Ken Hughey for their guidance, which has been invaluable, and also to Dr. Chris Gan, Bill Kaye­ Blake, Kristene Broad, Annette Brixton, and the staff at the Lincoln University Library for all of their assistance and patience. As well, my thanks must go to the Massey University Ryoichi Young Leaders Scholarship Committee and, in particular to Fiona Coote and the Committee for the Gordon Williams Scholarship in Ecological Sciences. I also have a debt of gratitude to Fran Begley from the Department of Conservation's Biodiversity Recovery Unit and the Recovery Group Leaders who provided data for the threatened species programmes. On a more personal note, this thesis could not have been completed without the support of my family, and in particular my father, Russell Cannan, and my husband, Simon Moran, for all of their proof-reading, ideas and encouragement. This thesis is dedicated to the memories of Mabel Hunter, for her love of New Zealand's native plants, and Kathleen and Bill Perry iv Contents Page Abstract ........................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ....................................................................................... iii Contents .......................................................................................................... v Tables .............................................................................................................. x Figures .......................................................................................................... xi 1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background ............................................................................................... 1 1.2 Structure .................................................................................................... 3 1.2.1 Review of literature .............................................. , ................................ 3 1.2.2 Economic theory .................................................................................... 3 1.2.3 Research methodology ........................................................................... 4 1.2.4 Reporting of results and discussion ...................................................... .4 1.2.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 5 1.3 Interpretation ............................................................................................. 5 2 Review of Literature ................................................................................ 10 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 10 2.2 Economic theory on threatened species conservation ............................ 12 2.2.1 The economics of species extinction and biodiversity loss ................. 12 2.2.2 The economics of biodiversity ............................................................. 13 . 2.3 Research into the allocation of scarce natural resources ........................ 14 v Page 2.3.1 The value of threatened species conservation ..................................... 14 2.3.2 The opportunity costs of threatened species conservation .................. 16 2.3.3 The costs of nature reserves ................................................................. 18 2.4 Research into the allocation of financial resources ................................ 20 2.4.1 Patterns of expenditure for threatened species .................................... 21 2.4.2 The costs of management for threatened species ................................ 22 2.5 Problem statement .................................................................................. 27 3 Economic Theory ..................................................................................... 28 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 28 3.2 Research aim and objectives .................................................................. .29 3.3 The economics of threatened species conservation ................................ 30 3.3.1 Threatened species conservation ......................................................... 30 3.3.2 The cost of a threatened species programme ....................................... 34 3.3.2.1 The cost of a programme in a single time period ............................. 35 3.3.2.2 The cost of a programme over time ................................................. .39 3.4 Hypotheses .............................................................................................. 43 3.4.1 Null hypothesis .................................................................................... 43 3.4.2 Alternative hypotheses ........................................................................ .43 4 Research methodology ............................................................................. 45 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 45 4.2 Background ............................................................................................. 46 4.3 Research design .....................................................................................