Economic incentives for woodland creation on farmland: modelling the impacts on biodiversity

Mary Nthambi, Katherine Simpson, Tom Bradfer-Lawrence, Andrew Dobson, Tom Finch, Elisa Fuentes-Montemayor, Nick Hanley, Kirsty Park and Kevin Watts

No 355340, Agricultural Economics Society (AES) 98th Annual Conference, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, March 18-20, 2024 from Agricultural Economics Society (AES)

Abstract: This paper models the effects of economic incentives on woodland planting on UK farmland, and the spatially-varying impacts on three avian species. The economic model uses an agent-based approach: “farmers” in each parcel compare economic returns from keeping their current agricultural land use with the economic incentive for woodland planting. An ecological model then predicts the effects of both parcel-level and local landscape-level woodland cover on species distributions. We compare results from two case study areas, which vary in terms of the spatial correlation of opportunity costs and ecological potential. As the per-hectare value of this subsidy is increased, the values of our biodiversity indicator increase, but at rates which vary by case study region and by species. Cost-effectiveness of the economic instrument varies according to the sign of the spatial correlation between opportunity costs and ecological potential.

Keywords: Agribusiness; Environmental Economics and Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aes024:355340

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.355340

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