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Birdwatching, logging and the local economy in the Białowieża Forest, Poland

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Abstract

Birdwatching is one of the fastest growing subsectors of ecotourism, and can contribute substantial income to the local economy in areas with high bird diversity. The Białowieża Forest (BF) is one of the most popular places to watch birds in Europe and is visited by thousands of birdwatchers every year. They are attracted by its particularly high diversity of bird species, many associated with the BF’s old-growth characteristics, including sizable populations of almost all European woodpeckers. These species are threatened by logging activities that are being undertaken on the assumption that forestry is important for the local economy. Our aim was to compare the revenue from birdwatchers with the revenue from other tourists visiting the BF to counter the economic justification for logging. Based on 165 responses to a structured questionnaire, our results show that one birdwatcher spends USD 64.6 per day on average, compared to USD 38.6 per day by other visitors to the BF. Birdwatchers also stay in the BF longer than other tourists (3.8 and 2.5 days on average, respectively). The total estimated local expenditure of approximately 14,000 birdwatchers in 2016 is almost USD 2.2 million. In contrast, since 2005, forest management and the sale of wood from the BF has led to economic losses each year, which we suggest would be further exacerbated by the impact of continued logging on birds and resultant inevitable decline in income from avitourism.

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Acknowledgements

We heartily thank the Białowieża National Park authorities for providing data on the number of tourists. This work was supported by the Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities, Poland (Theme No. 446/15/S financed from a science grant by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities, Prusa 14, 08-110, Siedlce, Poland

    Dorota Czeszczewik

  2. Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities, Prusa 14, 08-110, Siedlce, Poland

    Agnieszka Ginter & Halina Kałuża

  3. Department of Ecology, Grimsö Wildlife Research Station, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Riddarhyttan, Sweden

    Grzegorz Mikusiński

  4. Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics, National Research Institute, Świętokrzyska 20, 00-002, Warsaw, Poland

    Aleksandra Pawłowska

  5. Ricardo Energy & Environment, Harwell, Oxon, UK

    Richard J. Smithers

  6. University of Entrepreneurship Beaty Mydłowskiej, Kaleńska 3, 04-367, Warsaw, Poland

    Wiesław Walankiewicz

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  1. Dorota Czeszczewik
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  2. Agnieszka Ginter
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Correspondence to Wiesław Walankiewicz.

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Communicated by David Hawksworth.

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Czeszczewik, D., Ginter, A., Mikusiński, G. et al. Birdwatching, logging and the local economy in the Białowieża Forest, Poland. Biodivers Conserv 28, 2967–2975 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-019-01808-6

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