Abstract
Since first of January 2015, the EU-regulation 1143/2014 obligates all member states to conduct cost-benefit analyses in preparation of control programs for invasive alien species to minimize and mitigate their impacts. In addition, with ratification of the Rio Declaration and the amended Federal Nature Conservation Act, Germany is committed to control any further spread of invasive species. This is the first cost-benefit analysis estimating positive welfare effects and societal importance of H. mantegazzianum invasion control in Germany. The paper analyses possible control options limiting stands of giant hogweeds (H. mantegazzianum) based on survey data of n = 287 German districts. We differentiate between several control options (e.g. root destruction, mechanical cutting or mowing, chemical treatment and grazing) depending on infested area size and protection status. The calculation of benefits is based on stated preference results (choice experiment; n = 282). For the cost side, we calculate two different invasion scenarios (i) no re-infestation after successfully conducted control measures (optimistic) and (ii) re-infestation twice after conducting control measures occurring within ten years (pessimistic). Minimum costs of eradication measures including a time span of ten years and a social discount rate of 1% result in a total of 3,467,640 € for optimistic scenario and 6,254,932 € for pessimistic invasion scenario, where no success of the first eradication attempt is assumed. Benefits of invasion control in Germany result in a total of 238,063,641 € per year and overassessment-factor corrected in 59,515,910 € per year.
Highlights
Invasive species are considered to be a primary driver of biodiversity loss across the globe (UNEP 2015)
We focus only on one benefit of eradication control: the recreational value in terms of willingness to pay (WTP) for an environment being free of giant hogweed and its risks for humans
Accepting a minimum advantage of invasion control for the German population living in infested districts, in terms of recreation in an environment free of giant hogweed plants, benefits amount to 238,063,641 € per year, average 829,490 € per district
Summary
Invasive species are considered to be a primary driver of biodiversity loss across the globe (UNEP 2015). Invasive species cause public health concerns (EEA 2012, EPPO 2009, Bundesamt für Naturschutz 2015). About 10 million € are spent annually in Germany for control measures of invasive plant species and about one million € only for health-treatment expenses (Bundesamt für Naturschutz 2015, Reinhardt et al 2003). Field studies in Germany revealed a high variability of coverabundances; about one third of surveyed stands were dominant with cover-abundances exceeding 50% (Thiele and Otte 2008). H. mantegazzianum occurs in a variety of different habitat types, such as roadsides, grasslands, riparian habitats and woodland margins (Thiele and Otte 2006). The highest invasion percentage (18.5%) was found for abandoned grasslands, field and grassland margins and tall-forb stands (Thiele and Otte 2008). Open stands generally prevailed over dominant ones and single stands with sizes between 100 and 1,000 m2 occurred most frequently (145 of 233 stands) while stands larger than 1,000 m2 were found as minority (32 of 233 stands; Thiele and Otte 2008)
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