Formally developed walking routes can have substantial benefits for individuals as a recreational resource and can be a tool for promoting economic development in marginal rural areas. Moreover, the provision of walking trails can facilitate individuals in meeting health related guidelines for...

Public access to the Irish countryside for walking and recreation generally is a contentious issue. Increased affluence, mobility and changing values have brought about increased demands with respect to recreation in the countryside. There is also a greater emphasis on consumption demands for...

This paper explores the attitudes of landowners across Ireland to the wider provision of public access for recreational walking using a multinomial logit model. The study investigates the level of compensation required to improve the supply of this public good. Results indicate that 51% of...

Despite the potential benefits accruing from use of the rural landscape access to farmland is a contentious issue with many landowners restricting public access. Within this context, this paper first explores general public preferences and willingness to pay for farmland walking trails in the...

In the last decade the demand for rural recreation has increased in Ireland as the population has become increasingly urbanised. Increased affluence, mobility and changing values have also brought new demands with respect to landscape, conservation, heritage and recreation, with a greater...

With the deadline identified by the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) approaching in 2015 there is increasing pressure on policymakers to introduce new regulations to achieve water quality targets. Agriculture is one of the contributors of diffuse pollution entering watercourses and will...

This study establishes farm gate N and P balances and use efficiencies based on the average of 2 years of Teagasc National Farm Survey data in 2009 and 2010. The weighted average farm gate N surplus for this nationally representative sample of specialist dairy farms was 143.4 kg N ha-1. Average...

Multi-attribute revealed preference data are used to investigate the heterogeneity of tastes in a sample of kayakers in relation to a panel of eleven whitewater sites in Ireland. The paper focuses on a comparison of the analysis of preference heterogeneity using a random parameter logit model...

Indicators encompassing the multi-dimensional nature of sustainability (economic, environmental and social) are developed here using National Farm Survey data over a ten-year period (1996-2006) to assess the overall sustainability of Irish agriculture. This is the first such study undertaken for...

Contingent valuation has been used extensively in estimating the value of environmental goods. One criticism of this approach, however, is that respondents in referendum-style contingent valuation surveys may express citizen assessments that take into account benefits to others rather than...