Environmental valuation and management of wild edible mushroom picking in Spain

Applying environmental valuation techniques to improve environmental management is a strategy recommended by the leading international organisations. The present research applies the zonal version of the travel cost method to estimate the intertemporal demand functions for wild edible mushroom picking in various regulated areas in Castilla y Leon (Spain) through the sale of permits. Using data on the sale of picking permits issued by the managing authority (Micocyl), taken from their on-line sales platform, between 2013 and 2016, the corresponding demand functions for picking are estimated. Interpreting these functions, and calculating collector surplus, shows how management of this resource may be improved by providing valuable information that can be used by decision-makers in the various management areas. The main conclusion to emerge is that, based on the features of price elasticity of demand, adjusting the fees for the picking permits can help to manage the resource for purposes beyond merely raising revenue. The price control thus implemented might help to adapt the number of permits sold to the real situation of each area's harvest demand function and, therefore, to manage the harvesting pressure exerted on said resource, taking the amount actually picked as a real base. As a result, said management policies should not be approached in isolation from other public policies given the shift in mushroom picker profiles, which seem to be increasingly related to recreational aspects and less concerned with self-consumption of what is picked.