ASFB Home > 2003 > Biological Invasions: Consequences for Parasites, Pathogens, Emerging Diseases, and Fisheries in the Marine Environment.

Bioeconomic modelling in the development of invasive species policy

David Choquenot¹, Simon Nicol² & John Koehn²

¹Landcare Research, Gerald St. Lincoln, New Zealand.
²Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Sustainability and Environment, 123 Brown Street, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia, 3084
Email: ChoquenotD@landcareresearch.co.nz

“When should investment in managing invasive species stop”? The benefits of investing in invasive species management reflect both the value of the impacts that are mitigated and any savings that accrue, by not having to outlay additional resources in the future. Bioeconomic modelling provides a quantitative framework for considering the benefits and costs of alternative levels of investment in invasive species management by linking the level of investment to the costs of intervention (control), and value of the benefits derived (impact). Control costs are the product of the number of individuals to be managed, the overall management action and the cost of managing each individual necessary to achieve the desired outcome. Where impacts can be accounted in monetary terms, costs and benefits can be directly compared and an optimal level of investment (that which maximises returns on investment) can be identified. However, where impacts do not have a directly accessible monetary value (e.g. where an invasive species affects conservation values), benefits and costs cannot be directly contrasted. Under these circumstances, bioeconomic modelling can be used to identify strategies that maximise the level of benefit that can be achieved for expenditure of a fixed budget (benefit maximisation), or minimise the cost of achieving a given level of benefit (cost minimisation). In this paper we will demonstrate the role of bioeconomic modelling in the formulation of policy for the management of key invasive fish species in Australian and New Zealand freshwater ecosystems.

Room 1 Tuesday 2.15 pm