The Impact of Deforestation on Nature-Based Recreation: Evidence from Citizen Science Data in Mexico

Abstract

We use citizen science eBird data to investigate the effect of deforestation on birdwatching across Mexico. Using detailed data on individual trips reported to eBird, we construct annual count data on visits to 1,810 Mexican municipalities from 2008 to 2016 to examine how deforestation affects visitation patterns. We find that a municipality, experiencing an increase in deforestation equivalent to the average deforestation over our study period, would see birdwatching visits decrease by 4.4% a year. The results also provide an application of citizen science data using an underused source of information on economic behavior in an otherwise limited data environment.