Regional differences in farmers' preferences for a native bee conservation policy: The case of farming communities in Northern and Eastern Thailand.

Manuel Ernesto Narjes,Christian Lippert,Bi-Song Yue

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0251206

Abstract

Evidence points to past bee-mediated crop pollination deficits in Chanthaburi province, Eastern Thailand. Conversely, no such evidence has yet been reported for Chiang Mai province (Northern Thailand), suggesting that wild pollination is delivered there above the requirements of local orchards. Discrete choice experiments (DCE) were conducted to elicit the preferences of pollinator-dependent orchard farmers with regard to three pollinator conservation measures and their possible effects on of native bee populations in each region. We fitted random parameter logit (RPL) models on the resulting data to capture preference heterogeneity and to obtain willingness to pay (WTP) point estimates. To test our results’ robustness, we also inspected for scale heterogeneity by fitting generalized mixed logit (GMXL) models on the pooled and individual datasets. This yielded WTP space estimates (i.e., directly from WTP distributions) and made possible the comparison of farmers’ preferences for a native bee conservation policy in both regions. The results hint at significant WTP differences for some of the conservation policy attributes between both provinces. Furthermore, unobserved contributions to choice seem to have been more random in Chiang Mai. Our analyses also suggest that farmers who engage in bee-related activities are WTP more for a conservation policy that includes bee husbandry.

Highlights

IntroductionCurrent status of beekeeping and pollination services in Thailand
Our analyses address farmers’ perceptions, we would like to stress that the notion of a past pollination deficit attributed to declines in the population of native bees may be more justified for farmers in Chanthaburi than in Chiang Mai: there is scientific and anecdotal evidence indicating that an actual crop-pollination crisis took place in the former
It becomes evident that agriculture plays a more important economic role among the surveyed households of Chanthaburi than it does in the longan farming population of Chiang Mai: with a 92% share derived from agriculture, Chanthaburi farmers earn 42% higher net incomes than the latter

Summary

Introduction

Current status of beekeeping and pollination services in Thailand. With the exception of the European honeybee, all other eight honeybee species are native to Southeast Asia [1]. This region is characterized by its stingless bee (Apidae, Meliponinae) diversity, with 32 species of the genus Trigona identified in Thailand to date [2, 3]. Beekeeping in Thailand traditionally consists of attracting wild swarms of the Eastern honeybee (Apis cerana F.) to bait-hives (typically an unsophisticated wooden box or hollowed-out trunk), where. Regional differences in farmers’ preferences for a native bee conservation policy

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Discussion

Conclusion