**1. Introduction: some economic perspectives on biodiversity conservation**

Protected areas including the most prominent categories of national parks according to IUCN's management guidelines [1] and the European Union's Natura 2000 network of protected areas according to the FFH and Birds Directives are often located in peripheral regions,

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

both within countries and from an international perspective. While other categories of protected areas such as UNESCO's Biosphere Reserves consider sustainable development of the local and regional ecological, social, and economic systems alike, the two aforementioned frameworks do not place an emphasis on regional development nor consider the spatial distribution of costs and benefits of conservation.

In light of these aspects, it is important to consider the regional effects of biodiversity conservation. First of all, the establishment and operation of protected areas, to be effective, certainly builds on the involvement of stakeholders. As Getzner et al. [6] showed, participation of stakeholders is not only essential for biodiversity conservation but also important for fully exploiting the opportunities of conservation for the regional economy. In general, many studies have dealt with the regional economic perspective and the regional economic effects of protected areas in various contexts [7, 8]. The results generally lean toward the finding that biodiversity conservation in protected areas may lead to positive economic effects in terms of an increase of local and regional production and employment. In most cases, these positive effects are based on increased tourism. Visitors to the protected area might come for a day or spend their vacations in the region; expenditure for accommodation, food, entry fees, consumer goods all lead to higher local and regional demand and thus may support

Protected Areas and Regional Development: An Austrian Case Study

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.72373

15

However, a major methodological question arises with the exploration of conservation and the regional economic effects. Since visitors might come to the region owing to the landscape or the diverse ecosystems and habitats, the marginal (i.e., additional) contribution of the establishment of the protected area remains uncertain. If the regional economic effects of protected areas are to be ascertained, the underlying causes and consequences have to be

As mentioned earlier, many studies have explored the regional *economic* effects of protected areas. Usually, this is done by means of collecting data on additional regional spending, and then computing the spatially distributed multiplier effects of spending in several economic

In order to shed some light on other aspects of regional development, the Austrian Association of Environmental Organizations (Umweltdachverband) commissioned a study to explore the demographic, labor market, tourism, and agricultural effects of Natura 2000 sites in Austria over a long period (2000–2015) [10]. This chapter presents empirical evidence on the following

• Labor market perspectives (change of the number of jobs, unemployment rate); and

In order to ascertain developments in these three main categories, we employ a comprehensive database of all Austrian municipalities (approximately 2350); data are collected for the abovementioned categories. In order to distinguish between the different types of municipali-

• Share of Natura 2000 areas (more than 50% of the area is devoted to Natura 2000 conservation; less than 50% of the area; and municipalities without Natura 2000 areas within their

economic development.

carefully distinguished and analyzed.

• Tourism (overnight stays).

administrative borders);

ties, we chose the following classification:

branches. Other regional effects are rarely studied (cf. [9]).

aspects of regional development in Natura 2000 municipalities:

• Demographic development (population growth or decline);

However, two main arguments can be made in this context. On the one hand, peripheral regions rich in biodiversity often suffer from slow economic development, which regularly leads to population loss and infrastructure degradation. On the other hand, costs and benefits of conservation and of establishing protected areas may be unevenly distributed within a country. While the general public may enjoy the manifold benefits of conservation such as the existence value of biodiversity (protection of typical landscapes and ecosystems, conservation of flag-ship species) and the contribution to the national natural and cultural heritage, the local population might bear disproportionately high costs in terms of restrictions to economic development (such as land use restrictions for commercial or residential purposes).

The uneven sharing of costs and benefits, of course, has been addressed in various ways including the provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD, therefore, builds the foundation of benefit and burden sharing, and considers the potentially uneven distribution of costs and/or negative regional economic impacts of conservation. A prominent though often problematic concept that tries to address the securing and provision of biodiversity conservation is the idea of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) focusing on a compensation of upstream communities conserving ecosystem services for downstream users.

Besides the debate on the uneven distribution of costs and benefits, a wide range of studies have shown that—from an overall economic perspective—the conservation of biodiversity and the establishment of protected areas in particular is "efficient" in light of the huge benefits of conservation. For instance, Gantioler et al. [2] showed that the economic benefits of the EU's Natura 2000 network, by far, exceed the economic costs. Other publications include studies on single protected areas such as the comprehensive cost–benefit analysis on Austria's Donau-Auen national park [3] that proved that biodiversity conservation in a national park may lead to higher economic benefits even when compared to the construction of a hydro power plant. Other economic and managerial evaluations such as the one of Gesäuse national park [4] as well indicate the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation in protected areas.

One major category of economic costs originating from conservation is opportunity costs of reduced development options. As land is an absolutely scare resource and cannot be increased, any decision of a certain type of land use necessarily leads to a reduction of other potential alternatives. Since the land devoted to nature conservation according to the IUCN's guidelines, and the Flora-fauna-habitat Directive (FFH) and the Birds Directive in Europe is quite substantial, ranging from 9% up to 37% of a country's total land area [5], opportunity costs of conservation might marginally increase in the future. However, these opportunity costs may also be rather small since significant development options in peripheral regions are usually rare (except for single cases of large energy-related projects such as dams or mining). In addition, the costs of establishing and managing national parks and Natura 2000 sites (in terms of "out-of-pocket" expenses) might be substantial especially for low-income regions of countries.

In light of these aspects, it is important to consider the regional effects of biodiversity conservation. First of all, the establishment and operation of protected areas, to be effective, certainly builds on the involvement of stakeholders. As Getzner et al. [6] showed, participation of stakeholders is not only essential for biodiversity conservation but also important for fully exploiting the opportunities of conservation for the regional economy. In general, many studies have dealt with the regional economic perspective and the regional economic effects of protected areas in various contexts [7, 8]. The results generally lean toward the finding that biodiversity conservation in protected areas may lead to positive economic effects in terms of an increase of local and regional production and employment. In most cases, these positive effects are based on increased tourism. Visitors to the protected area might come for a day or spend their vacations in the region; expenditure for accommodation, food, entry fees, consumer goods all lead to higher local and regional demand and thus may support economic development.

However, a major methodological question arises with the exploration of conservation and the regional economic effects. Since visitors might come to the region owing to the landscape or the diverse ecosystems and habitats, the marginal (i.e., additional) contribution of the establishment of the protected area remains uncertain. If the regional economic effects of protected areas are to be ascertained, the underlying causes and consequences have to be carefully distinguished and analyzed.

As mentioned earlier, many studies have explored the regional *economic* effects of protected areas. Usually, this is done by means of collecting data on additional regional spending, and then computing the spatially distributed multiplier effects of spending in several economic branches. Other regional effects are rarely studied (cf. [9]).

In order to shed some light on other aspects of regional development, the Austrian Association of Environmental Organizations (Umweltdachverband) commissioned a study to explore the demographic, labor market, tourism, and agricultural effects of Natura 2000 sites in Austria over a long period (2000–2015) [10]. This chapter presents empirical evidence on the following aspects of regional development in Natura 2000 municipalities:


both within countries and from an international perspective. While other categories of protected areas such as UNESCO's Biosphere Reserves consider sustainable development of the local and regional ecological, social, and economic systems alike, the two aforementioned frameworks do not place an emphasis on regional development nor consider the spatial dis-

However, two main arguments can be made in this context. On the one hand, peripheral regions rich in biodiversity often suffer from slow economic development, which regularly leads to population loss and infrastructure degradation. On the other hand, costs and benefits of conservation and of establishing protected areas may be unevenly distributed within a country. While the general public may enjoy the manifold benefits of conservation such as the existence value of biodiversity (protection of typical landscapes and ecosystems, conservation of flag-ship species) and the contribution to the national natural and cultural heritage, the local population might bear disproportionately high costs in terms of restrictions to economic

The uneven sharing of costs and benefits, of course, has been addressed in various ways including the provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The CBD, therefore, builds the foundation of benefit and burden sharing, and considers the potentially uneven distribution of costs and/or negative regional economic impacts of conservation. A prominent though often problematic concept that tries to address the securing and provision of biodiversity conservation is the idea of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) focusing on a compensation of upstream communities conserving ecosystem services for downstream users.

Besides the debate on the uneven distribution of costs and benefits, a wide range of studies have shown that—from an overall economic perspective—the conservation of biodiversity and the establishment of protected areas in particular is "efficient" in light of the huge benefits of conservation. For instance, Gantioler et al. [2] showed that the economic benefits of the EU's Natura 2000 network, by far, exceed the economic costs. Other publications include studies on single protected areas such as the comprehensive cost–benefit analysis on Austria's Donau-Auen national park [3] that proved that biodiversity conservation in a national park may lead to higher economic benefits even when compared to the construction of a hydro power plant. Other economic and managerial evaluations such as the one of Gesäuse national park [4] as

One major category of economic costs originating from conservation is opportunity costs of reduced development options. As land is an absolutely scare resource and cannot be increased, any decision of a certain type of land use necessarily leads to a reduction of other potential alternatives. Since the land devoted to nature conservation according to the IUCN's guidelines, and the Flora-fauna-habitat Directive (FFH) and the Birds Directive in Europe is quite substantial, ranging from 9% up to 37% of a country's total land area [5], opportunity costs of conservation might marginally increase in the future. However, these opportunity costs may also be rather small since significant development options in peripheral regions are usually rare (except for single cases of large energy-related projects such as dams or mining). In addition, the costs of establishing and managing national parks and Natura 2000 sites (in terms of "out-of-pocket" expenses) might be substantial especially for low-income regions of countries.

well indicate the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation in protected areas.

development (such as land use restrictions for commercial or residential purposes).

tribution of costs and benefits of conservation.

14 National Parks - Management and Conservation

In order to ascertain developments in these three main categories, we employ a comprehensive database of all Austrian municipalities (approximately 2350); data are collected for the abovementioned categories. In order to distinguish between the different types of municipalities, we chose the following classification:

• Share of Natura 2000 areas (more than 50% of the area is devoted to Natura 2000 conservation; less than 50% of the area; and municipalities without Natura 2000 areas within their administrative borders);

• Degree of urbanization of the municipality (urban/city, suburban/intermediate, and rural).

The following section first presents the broad classification of Austrian municipalities, and then discusses the regional development along the selected dimensions.
