Takahiro Tsuge

Best–worst scaling survey of preferences regarding the adverse effects of tobacco use in China

We use best–worst scaling to assess two types of concern levels of the adverse consequences of smoking in China. While the smoking cessation policy has worked well in Taiwan, more than 1 million people in mainland China are estimated to die every year from tobacco use. This study compares the preferences of Chinese individuals in the two jurisdictions (mainland versus Taiwan) and explores the possibility of information-based interventions. The relative importance of 13 adverse effects was assessed by conducting a web-based survey on a sample of 480 Chinese participants. The 13 items consist of various adverse effects of tobacco use: from long-term health risk, such as lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases, to reduction of physical capacity and sexual dysfunction, and disturbance to non-smokers. The resulting data suggest possible strategies to curb smoking. Subgroup analysis, focusing on gender, smoking status, and nicotine dependence, was also conducted. Lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, in this order, rank highest for both types of respondents. On the other hand, high expenditures (13th) and weight gain after cessation (12th) are the lowest ranked for both. Measuring individual best–worst scores reveals substantial heterogeneity among respondents and that information-based intervention can help curb smoking.

How many broadleaved trees are enough in conifer plantations? The economy of land sharing, land sparing and quantitative targets

Summary For biodiversity conservation to be an effective and significant social investment, non-marketed values of biodiversity conservation and its associated opportunity costs should be evaluated in monetary terms. In this study, we measured the willingness to pay (WTP) for bird abundance using a choice experiment (CE) based on the random utility model. We performed a cost–benefit analysis to identify the optimal proportion of broadleaved trees in conifer plantations on a volume basis to maximize the social benefits of bird conservation and wood production. The results suggested that respondents to the CE were not satisfied with their current situation and preferred an increase in bird abundance. However, the estimated WTP indicated diminishing returns of bird conservation. More specifically, WTP first greatly increased before gradually experiencing decreasing marginal values, reaching its peak and finally decreasing slightly with increasing bird abundance. Optimization analyses indicated that when the relationship between bird abundance and broadleaved tree proportion was convex, semi-natural plantations with nonzero broadleaved tree proportion (0·02–0·22) were always optimal options. When the relationship was linear, optimal broadleaved tree proportion ranged from 0 to 0·78 and was greatly affected by wood values. When the relationship was concave, there were only two optimal broadleaved tree proportions: a very high proportion (approximately 0·90) and the lowest possible proportion (0). When the convex and concave relationships approached the linear form, comparable benefits could be attained across broad ranges of broadleaved tree proportion both within and across the relationships. In such cases, it would be useful to increase the likelihood of a feasible land-use strategy of either land sparing or land sharing in order to be successful. Synthesis and applications. It can be difficult to set quantitative targets in biodiversity conservation solely on an ecological basis, and social benefits of biodiversity conservation can create diminishing returns in many situations. The framework we propose shows how to reconcile resource production and biodiversity conservation in the real world.

Assessing the Difficulty of Implementing Wildlife-Friendly Farming Practices by Using the Best–Worst Scaling Approach

On Sado Island in central Japan, wildlife-friendly farming is widely practiced, using the crested ibis (Nipponia nippon) as an icon. On the basis of farmer preferences, we applied the best–worst scaling (BWS) approach to evaluate the difficulty of implementing seven representative wildlife-friendly farming practices on Sado Island. Typical wildlife-friendly farming practices include reduced inputs of agrochemicals (50 % or 80 % agrochemical reduction), organic (agrochemical-free) cultivation, winter flooding, installation of diversion ditches, installation of fishways, and installation of biotopes (fallow flooding). We conducted a questionnaire survey of 5,010 farmers on Sado Island who distributed rice to Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA) at the time of the survey. We employed two approaches to analyze the BWS data: counting analysis and econometric analysis. The results of both analyses showed that organic cultivation was the most difficult of all types of farming practices and that 50 % agrochemical reduction was the least difficult. As expected, the burden of implementing the various farming practices differed. When a farming practice can produce a certain amount of biodiversity with less burden, the practice is considered more efficient. The results of our analysis can be utilized to evaluate each farming practice by quantifying its cost-effectiveness. Our study approach may be an effective assessment tool for disseminating wildlife-friendly farming practices.

Understanding island residents’ anxiety about impacts caused by climate change using Best–Worst Scaling: a case study of Amami islands, Japan

Climate change poses significant risk to island communities; however, there has been limited quantitative investigation into local people’s perception toward the risk. This study applied Best–Worst Scaling (BWS) to understand residents’ anxieties about potential incidents caused by climate change in Amami islands, Japan. Through an interview with stakeholders, we selected five potential incidents for our BWS attributes: damage caused by typhoon and heavy rain (typhoon), damage caused by flood and a landslide (flood), damage from a drought (drought), damage from ciguatera fish poisoning (ciguatera), and incident caused by jellyfish (jellyfish). Changes in frequencies of the abovementioned incidents have already been observed in Japan. In 2016, we conducted a questionnaire survey of residents in Amami islands and received over 700 valid responses to BWS questions. Results showed that the average respondent was most anxious about the risk of typhoon, followed by flood, drought, ciguatera, and jellyfish. Furthermore, a comparative analysis did not find large variations among the islands in the residents’ anxiety ranking concerning the incidents, but the degrees of their anxieties were different. The Amami-Oshima residents, for example, had relatively higher anxieties about flood, whereas the Okinoerabujima residents showed higher anxiety about drought. These findings support that their risk perceptions are determined by their experience and surrounding environments. Understanding the sensitivity of residents to climate change risk will encourage stakeholders to communicate and enhance climate change adaptation in local communities.

Long-term evolution of preferences for conservation projects in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan: a comprehensive analytic framework

Background The long-term evolution of preferences for nature is crucial to conservation projects, given their targeted long-term horizons. Neglecting to account for this evolution could lead to undesirable human–nature relationships. This study compares the willingness to pay (WTP) for three coastal conservation projects in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, at two distant time points (1998 and 2015), and tests for temporal transferability. It also compares protest responses that are often overlooked in WTP practices, regardless of their utility for conservation projects. Methods Given the lack of a unanimous protocol for protest response analyses and their use in estimating WTP, we propose a comprehensive analytic framework that integrates the two. Results We show that, while preferences for coastal ecosystem services were overall stable and temporarily transferable, the preferences for certain aspects of conservation projects considerably changed. Discussion This suggests the need to reconsider the projects’ scheme, not the ecosystem services themselves, along with the clarification of beneficiaries and those responsible for past destruction. We conclude by suggesting further studies with a focus on regions experiencing significant social-ecological changes, such as developing countries, by exploiting the rich asset of existing valuations. This could contribute to the database for more temporal-sensitive ecosystem service valuations utilized for benefit transfers.