Conservation policies informed by food system feedbacks can avoid unintended consequences

ABSTRACT Understanding the feedbacks between food systems and conservation policies can help avoid unintended environmental consequences. Using a survey-based choice experiment and economic

modelling, we quantify the potential impact of tourists’ responses to a shift in offshore fish supply after the designation of a large-scale marine protected area in Palau. We find that this

conservation policy may increase offshore fish prices and tourists’ consumption of reef fish, thereby further endangering local reef ecosystems. However, if tourists are offered a

sustainable offshore choice, their demand for fish could be kept at current levels, and environmental impacts from increased reef fish consumption would be avoided. Access through your

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GLOBAL ANALYSIS OF CORAL REEF CONSERVATION PREFERENCES Article 31 August 2023 TOWARDS PROCESS-ORIENTED MANAGEMENT OF TROPICAL REEFS IN THE ANTHROPOCENE Article Open access 14 November 2022

MARINE HEATWAVES DISRUPT ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION VIA ALTERED FOOD WEBS AND ENERGY FLUX Article Open access 13 March 2024 DATA AVAILABILITY The authors declare that all of the data

supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its Supplementary Information and Supplementary Data files. CODE AVAILABILITY The custom code generated for this

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Geographic Pristine Seas for funding this project; the Palau International Coral Reef Center for coordinating and supporting the data collection; the survey enumerators, including A. Uchel

and T. Holm; and T. Oliver for providing advice on our statistical analysis. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Stanford University Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford, CA, USA

Staci A. Lewis * Department of Natural Resource and Environmental Management, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA Staci A. Lewis, Carlo Fezzi & Kirsten L. L. Oleson *

Department of Economics and Management, University of Trento, Trento, Italy Carlo Fezzi * Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK Carlo Fezzi *

School of Life Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA Rachel Dacks * University of Siena, Siena, Italy Silvia Ferrini * University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK Silvia

Ferrini * Pacific Community (SPC), Noumea, France Philip A. S. James * Palau International Coral Reef Center, Koror, Palau Lincy Marino & Yimnang Golbuu Authors * Staci A. Lewis View

author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Carlo Fezzi View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Rachel

Dacks View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Silvia Ferrini View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google

Scholar * Philip A. S. James View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Lincy Marino View author publications You can also search for this author

inPubMed Google Scholar * Yimnang Golbuu View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Kirsten L. L. Oleson View author publications You can also

search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS S.A.L., K.L.L.O. and R.D. planned the project. S.A.L., K.L.L.O., R.D., C.F., S.F and P.A.S.J. designed the study. S.A.L.

K.L.L.O., R.D. and L.M. collected the surveys. C.F., S.A.L., K.L.L.O., R.D. and S.F. conducted the analysis. C.F. and S.F. designed and estimated the choice experiment analysis. S.A.L., C.F.

and K.L.L.O. wrote the paper. R.D., S.F., P.A.S.J., L.M. and Y.G. contributed to the writing. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Staci A. Lewis. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS

The authors declare no competing interests. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PEER REVIEW INFORMATION _Nature Food_ thanks Mark Zimring and Hollie Booth for their contribution to the peer review of

this work. PUBLISHER’S NOTE Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION Survey instrument, Supplementary Figs. 1–5 and Supplementary Tables 1–12. REPORTING SUMMARY SUPPLEMENTARY DATA Data and code for the choice experiment calculations, WTP

modelling, demographics analysis and consumption calculations. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Lewis, S.A., Fezzi, C., Dacks, R. _et al._

Conservation policies informed by food system feedbacks can avoid unintended consequences. _Nat Food_ 1, 783–786 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-020-00192-7 Download citation *

Received: 20 March 2020 * Accepted: 21 October 2020 * Published: 30 November 2020 * Issue Date: December 2020 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-020-00192-7 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you

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