Coastal Communities WTA Compensation for conservation of mangrove forests: a choice experiment approach

Abstract

-Protection of mangrove forests entails the decrease and restriction of their injudicious uses by local people and therefore imposes opportunity costs on poor local communities, which often depend on these forest resources for their subsistence. This study aims to quantify the economic opportunity cost of conservation for coastal communities living in areas adjacent to mangrove forests in the southern coasts of Iran. The main commercial uses of the mangrove forests in this area are restricted to fishing, tourist boating trips, and limited leaves cutting. We applied a choice experiment method to measure the costs of the forest exploitation reduction under hypothetical protection scenarios in which local users would receive monetary compensation to lessen or forgo mangrove forest utilization. The results showed that local communities are willing to accept lower compensation when the protection is meant to decrease the frequency of Hara cutting and fishing, as opposed to banning recreational opportunities. The mean WTA was estimated to be 55 662 500 IRR.hsld −1 .yr −1 (2026 USD), which was generally lower than opportunity costs in the form of foregone income. Before implementing any policies related to equity, our findings can provide policymakers with useful prior knowledge and prescription. Key-words:Compensation / willingness to accept / hara cutting / fishing / recreational opportunities Résumé -Volonté de communautés côtières à accepter une compensation pour la conservation de forêts de mangrove : une méthode d'expérimentation des choix. La protection des forêts de mangroves entraîne la diminution et la restriction de leurs utilisations excessives par les populations locales et impose donc des coûts d'opportunité sur les communautés locales pauvres, qui dépendent souvent de ces ressources forestières pour leur subsistance. Cette étude vise à quantifier le coût d'opportunité économique de la conservation pour les communautés côtières qui vivent dans les zones adjacentes aux forêts de mangroves dans les côtes du sud de l'Iran. Les principales utilisations commerciales des forêts de mangroves dans cette région sont limitées à la pêche, aux voyages en bateau de tourisme, et à la coupe de feuilles réglementée. Nous avons appliqué une méthode d'expérimentation des choix pour mesurer les coûts de la réduction de l'exploitation forestière dans des scénarios hypothétiques de protection dans lesquels les utilisateurs locaux recevraient une compensation monétaire pour réduire ou renoncer à l'utilisation de la forêt de mangrove. Les résultats ont montré que les communautés locales sont prêtes à accepter une compensation inférieure lorsque la protection est destinée à diminuer la fréquence de la coupe du Hara et la pêche, par opposition à l'interdiction de possibilités de loisirs. La WTA moyenne a été estimée à 55.662.500 IRR.hsld −1 .yr −1 (2026 USD), ce qui était généralement plus bas que les coûts d'opportunité sous forme de manque à gagner. Avant la mise en oeuvre des politiques relatives à l'équité, nos résul...

Estimation of Carbon Pools in the Biomass and Soil of Mangrove Forests in Sirik Azini Creek, Hormozgan Province (Iran)

“…Recently, global changes combined with local constrains threaten the Hara forest ecosystem (Zahed et al 2010). Mangrove stands have been deteriorated, among the others, by camel grazing, oil pollution due to fuel smuggling, the introduction of invasive species such as the black rat, and unregulated shing (Mashayekhi et al 2016). For these reasons, national programs are quantifying the economic opportunity costs of conservation for local users in order to reduce tree harvesting and deforestation activities in the Hara forest (Mashayekhi et al 2016).…”

‘Get a Fish’ vs. ‘Get a Fishing Skill’: Farmers’ Preferred Compensation Methods to Control Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution

“…Scholars have conducted extensive research on how to improve farmers' enthusiasm to participate in ecological compensation policies. At present, relevant studies mainly analyze farmers' willingness to participate [17] and calculate reasonable compensation standards [18][19][20][21]. However, few studies discuss how to execute the compensation methods available to farmers.…”

Rural Households’ Willingness to Accept Compensation Standards for Controlling Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution: A Case Study of the Qinba Water Source Area in Northwest China

“…Examples of cost compensation perspectives and several studies that applied them are provided in the following. (1) The expected opportunity cost is usually considered the income abandoned by an individual due to an environmental protection action [22,23]. On the basis of the opportunity cost perspective, Thomas et al calculated a compensation of $375/(ha•year) to convince every decision maker to maintain a secondary forest in Monte Carlo, Chile [22].…”

“…Mashayekhi et al quantified the economic opportunity cost of conservation for coastal communities living in areas adjacent to mangrove forests in the southern coasts of Iran. The results showed that the local communities had an estimated mean willingness to accept (WTA) of 2026 USD/(household•year), which was generally lower than opportunity costs in the form of foregone income [23]. (2) The expected governance cost refers to the cost directly invested in the process of ecological protection [24] and pollution treatment [25].…”