The willingness to pay for property rights for the giant panda: can a charismatic species be an instrument for nature conservation ?

This paper presents the results from a contingent valuation (CV) that elicited willingness to pay (WTP) of OECD citizens, for the conservation of the Giant Panda. The study investigates the extent to which such a charismatic or flagship species can be used to promote wider biodiversity conservation. There exists an internally consistent WTP for the purchase of property rights of the habitat required for the conservation of the panda. This WTP is shown to consist largely of the value placed on the "naturalness" of the species, implying that the symbolic nature of the panda might be a potential instrument for greater biodiversity conservation.