Public Attitudes towards Forest Pest Damage Cost and Future Control Extent: A Case Study from Two Cities of Pakistan

Abstract

Infestations of pests are perhaps an anthropogenic catastrophe for trees. Aeolesthes sarta (Sart longhorned beetle—SLB) is one of the most severe pests that cause serious damage to a number of hardwood tree species, i.e., Populus, Salix, Acer, Juglans, and Malus. To investigate people’s attitudes towards pest damage cost and future control extent of SLB, a door-to-door method was adopted to survey two major cities (Quetta—QU and Peshawar—PE) of the northwestern region of Pakistan where this pest has caused severe damage. Respondents were asked about SLB pest knowledge, pest damage costs, preferences for control choices, and program extent. According to respondents, more trees (181 ± 1.20 trees/ha/annum) were damaged in QU compared to PE. Populus spp. was the dominant tree genre that attacked and damaged the most. Around 85% of respondents from both cities stated the pest damage cost was calculated as high for QU (480,840.80 ± 4716.94$/annum) compared to PE. Respondents in both locations strongly supported (more than 82%) biological control of future SLB outbreaks. They all agreed that protecting ecologically vulnerable places and wildlife habitats should be the primary priority in a future SLB outbreak. Respondents from both cities who preferred to protect more land area in future SLB outbreaks were calculated to be high for QU (61%) compared to PE (58%). However, city variations in opinions regarding forest-type priority that should be protected and control options were observed. Socio-demographic characteristics were discovered to impact pest damage cost positively, as well as preferred SLB control extent. The findings of this study can help policymakers and forest managers develop publicly permissible pest control plans and make more accurate predictions about future pest outbreaks.