Public support for sustainable commercial harvesting of wildlife: An Australian case study

This paper surveys a sample of 204 members of the Australian public to determine their attitude to the sustainable commercial harvesting of wildlife generally, and considers their specific support for the sustainable commercial harvesting of each of 24 Australian native species. The general attitude of the sample to wildlife harvesting is related to their attitude to nature conservation. The relationship between respondents’ support for the sustainable commercial harvesting of each of the species and their degree of endangerment based on IUCN Red List rankings is established and found to be an inverse one. Support for the commercial sustainable use of each of the species is compared with the willingness of respondents to pay for their conservation. Support for sustainable commercial harvesting of species is found to be inversely related to the willingness of respondents to pay is for a particular species’ conservation. In turn, this willingness to pay is found to rise with the degree of endangerment of species. While the likeability of a species has some influence on whether there is support or not for its commercial harvesting, it does not seem to be the predominant influence— the degree of endangerment of a species appears to be the major influence here. Even so, this does not imply majority support for the harvest of all species that are not threatened; rather, majority support for harvest was observed only for some species known to be abundant. None of the species that appear in the Red List have majority support for harvesting. Implications are outlined of the results for the policy of promoting wildlife conservation by means of sustainable use.

Comparative public support for conserving reptile species is high: Australian evidence and its implications

This paper investigates factors influencing the public’s support for conservation of tropical reptile species in a focal group drawing on Australian data and an experiment involving a sample of the Australian public. The influences of the likeability of the species, their degree of endangerment, ethical considerations as well as knowledge are examined and found to be important. Likeability is found to be much less important than the existing literature suggests. This is highlighted by comparing the likeability of the focal group of reptiles with that for a group of birds and a group of mammals with differences in willingness to pay for their conservation.

Dependence of public support for survival of wildlife species on their likeability

We surveyed a sample of 204 individuals selected from the public in Brisbane, Australia, to ascertain the extent to which they like or dislike 24 species of wildlife present in tropical Australia. The species belong to three classes: mammals, birds and reptiles. We calculated likeability indices for each of these species. We also asked respondents if they favoured the survival of each of these species and so the percentage of respondents favouring survival of each of these species could be calculated. Thus, using linear regression analysis, the percentage of respondents favouring survival of each of the species was related to their indices of likeability. In addition, the data enables the average likeability of species in the three classes (mammals, birds and reptiles) to be compared with the average support for survival of species in each of these three classes. As a result, we are able to assess how important stated likeability seems to be for preferences for survival of species, and to reconsider the hypothesis in the literature that there is likely to be more public support for the survival of mammals than for birds than for reptiles.

Individual and household willingness to pay for public goods

The issue of whether willingness to pay (WTP) for the benefits generated by a public good should be elicited on an individual or on a household basis is addressed. Differences between individual and household WTP may arise when members of the household are mutually altruistic. It is shown that, for general specifications of altruism, household WTP is less than the sum of household members' individual WTP. Implications for the choice between household and individual measures of WTP are considered, and issues in the elicitation of household WTP are addressed.

The Australian public's perception of genetically-engineered foods

This paper describes a recent Australian survey on attitudes to genetically-engineered foods. Initial results of the survey are discussed and presented in tabular form. While there is some acceptance of particular genetically-engineered products, the results show that responfdents did have concerns over the long-term health effects of eating genetically-engineered foods and the potential risk to the environment. Respondents clearly endorsed labelling of the products and government control of the technology.

The continuum of quasi-psychotic beliefs and experiences in the Australian general public

When surveyed, many individuals without psychosis report a range of beliefs and experiences that are shared by patients with psychosis. This study aimed to examine quasi-psychotic beliefs and experiences in a sample of well Australians. 303 individuals were recruited from a defined catchment area as part of the Brisbane Psychosis Study. All subjects were screened with a modified SCAN in order to exclude psychoses. The Peters Delusional Inventory (PDI 40 items), items from the Chapmans' Psychosis Proneness Scale (PPS), the Communication Awareness Scale (CAS: a measure of awareness of thought disorder), items related to perceptions and beliefs from various schizotypy questionnaires and the Social Desirability (SD) items from the EPQ were administered. There was a significant negative correlation between age and total score on the PDI. There were significant positive correlations between the PDI, the PPS, the CAS and the items related to perception. There were no significant gender differences on any of the scores apart from SD (females had higher scores). Those with a positive family history of mental illness other than schizophrenia (n = 118) scored significantly higher on the PDI and scores related to perception, however they were no different on SD or the Psychosis Proneness items. There were no group differences on any of these items when those with a positive family history of schizophrenia (n = 27) were compared to the rest of the group. Well individuals who endorse delusional beliefs also tend to endorse items related to abnormal perceptions and awareness of thought disorder. The results of the study support the concept of a 'continuum of beliefs and experiences' in the general community that should inform our neurocognitive models of the symptoms of psychosis. The Stanley Foundation supported this project.

Public health implications of new guidelines for lead in drinking water: a case study in an area with historically high water lead levels

Concern about the neurotoxicity of lead, particularly in infants and young children, has led to a revision of blood lead levels which are considered to involve an acceptable level of human exposure. Drinking water guidelines have also been reviewed in order to reduce this source of population exposure to lead. In the last 20 years, guidelines have been reduced from 100 to 50 to 10 mu g/litre. Lead in tap water used to be a major public health problem in Glasgow because of the high prevalence of houses with lead service pipes, the low pH of the public water supply and the resulting high levels of lead in water used for public consumption. Following two separate programmes of water treatment, involving the addition of lime and, a decade later, lime supplemented with orthophosphate, it is considered that maximal measures have been taken to reduce lead exposure by chemical treatment of the water supply. Any residual problem of public exposure would require large scale replacement of lead service pipes. In anticipation of the more stringent limits for lead in drinking water, we set out to measure current lead exposure From tap water in the population of Glasgow served by the Loch Katrine water supply. to compare the current situation with 12 years previously and to assess the public health implications of different limits. The study was based on mothers of young children since maternal blood lead concentrations and the domestic water that mothers use to prepare bottle feeds are the principal sources of foetal and infant lead exposure. An estimated 17% of mothers lived in households with tap water lead concentrations of 10 mu g/litre (the WHO guideline) or above in 1993 compared with 49% in 1981. Mean maternal blood lead concentrations fell by 69% in 12 years. For a given water lead concentration, maternal blood lead concentrations were 67% lower. The mean maternal blood lead concentration was 3.7 mu g/litre in the population at large, compared with 3.3 mu g/litre in households with negligible or absent tap water lead. Nevertheless, between 63% and 76% of cases of mothers with blood lead concentrations of 10 mu g/dl or above were attributable to tap water lead. The study found that maternal blood lead concentrations were well within limits currently considered safe for human health. About 15% of infants may be exposed via bottle feeds to tap water lead concentrations that exceed the WHO guideline of 10 mu g/litre. In the context of the health and social problems which affect the well-being and development of infants and children in Glasgow, however, current levels of lend exposure are considered to present a relatively minor health problem. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

A multi-sectorial committee in directing HIV/AIDS-specific interventions in the occupational setting: An example from South Africa

We present a descriptive analysis of a mechanism to coordinate and implement human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention and care in the occupational setting. The mechanism we describe is a multidisciplinary committee composed of stakeholders in the occupational health environment including unions, management, medical researchers, and medical personnel. The site chosen for the analysis was a South African sugar mill in rural KwaZulu-Natal. The factory is situated in an area of high HIV seroprevalence and has a workforce of 400 employees. The committee was initiated to coordinate a combined prevention-care initiative. The issues that were important in the formation of the committee included confidentiality, trust, and the traditional roles of the stakeholder relationships. When these points were addressed through the focus on a common goal, the committee was able to function in its role as a coordinating body. Central to this success was the inclusion of all stakeholders in the process, including those with traditionally opposing, interests and legitimacy conferred by the stakeholders. This committee was functionally effective and demonstrated the benefit of a freestanding committee dedicated to addressing HIV/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) issues. We describe the implementation and feasibility of a multisectoral committee in directing HIV/AIDS initiatives in the occupational setting in rural South Africa.