Economic justification?

Barely hanging in there!

The attempts to save this species, and change its current decreasing trend¹ are very costly. China, and many researchers around the world, has spent enormous amounts of money trying to understand this species more, in hopes we may learn what can increase its numbers back to healthy numbers. Most conservation projects are aimed to maintain the biodiversity we have on Earth, but sometimes, obtaining the money to do so is very hard and hard to justify why.

The question always stems down to whether people are willing to pay to save a species.

Studies show that the willingness of the people living in the area are low– intentions to make “better use” of the land are high². This is understandable because people always want to make the most profit off their land and conservation of land cannot pay as much. What can we do, as “outsiders” (considering we aren’t facing the same economic strains as the locals of the area) to justify conservation over money?

Pandas are unique

…just as one could say all species are unique (that’s they were labelled a species!). However, aside from the biological aspect of uniqueness, pandas also possess a special symbolic role. They represent a nation. Whenever someone sees a panda, they (or most of them) will link it to China.

Pandas are believed to bring good fortune and peace to people, perhaps due to its relaxed,

Seems like fun-- but a panda nonetheless 🙂

friendly nature. Pandas are referenced a lot actually, and used in many ways due to its easily recognizable features. An example would be a metaphor told to my class by a professor during a chemistry class, which I will try to re-narrate here (please excuse any errors and all rights go to my professor!):

(now, imagine this being said with a Chinese accent, no racism/ offense intended)

“Class, do you know why successful university students are like panda-bear? Because of dark circles and eyebags–caused primarily by studying very hard! Right? I say this because panda-bear is very smart. It is well-known, protected, and many people are concerned about its conservation. But look at its close relative, the polar-bear: ice caps are melting, they are losing their homes–and yet all of you still drive and ride in cars! Who gives a c@#! about them, really? I’m sure none of you would change your habits just to save these polar-bears. Panda-bear is even logo for WWF! See how successful it is? So, harder you study, more like panda-bear you will become!” –Dr. Wang, Associate professor at UBC

Photo credits to The Brit_2 (flickr) and Nemo’s great uncle (flickr)

¹ IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011. Bear Specialist Group (2008) Ailuropoda melanoleuca. Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/712/0. Accessed Feb. 6, 2012.

² Kontoleon, A. and Swanson, T. 2003. The willingness to pay for property rights for the giant panda: can a charismatic species be an instrument for nature conservation? Land Economics 79(4): 483-499.