Costs and benefits of preserving farm animal genetic resources from extinction: CVM and bio-economic model for valuing a conservation program for the Italian Pentro horse

This paper presents the results of a cost-benefit analysis of a conservation program for the Pentro horse. This horse breed has been reared for millennia in a Southern Italian wetland where it is now strongly tied to the traditions of the region, but presently faces extinction as only 150 horses have survived. Horse herds live in a wild state, characterising in a remarkable manner the landscape of the wetland. This results in a flow of social benefits that the market value of this breed fails to capture. The benefits from a conservation program for this currently unprotected local breed is estimated in a contingent valuation study, while a bio-economic model is used to estimate the costs associated with its in situ conservation. The results show that the benefit/cost ratio is, in the worst scenario, equal to 1.67, thus justifying a conservation policy. This combined approach could be useful to support policy-making for conservation in regions with a long history of breeding domestic animals. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.