Economic Valuation of Forest Conserved by Local Community for Carbon Sequestration: The Case of Humbo Community Assisted Natural Regeneration Afforestation/Reforestation (A/R) Carbon Sequestration Project; SNNPRS, Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was carried out to determine the economic value of forest conserved by local community for carbon sequestration in the Humbo District, Ethiopia. The contingent valuation method (CVM) using the double bounded bivariate probit econometric method was employed to estimate WTP for sustainable forest management. Household survey was randomly conducted in 218 respondents purposively selected from three forest development cooperatives. The bivariate probit model was run to estimate mean WTP and to identify the determinant factors for farmers' WTP for forest conservation. Thus, the mean WTP with covariates was estimated to be 104.38 Ethiopian Birr (ETB) and 55.73 ETB 1 per year for the initial bid and for the follow-up bid amount, respectively. The result also indicated that respondents' level of education, marital status, years of membership in the cooperatives, second bid amount, distance of residence from forest of interest, and net family income were significantly related to WTP for forest conservation. The study showed that even the poor households were willing to pay the average values in terms of cash contribution to maintain the forest management responsibility following the withdrawal of the NGO. In conclusion, whereas CVM can be applied to determine WTP for forest conservation, local people recognize and give value to the environmental services of the forest and are willing to maintain those benefits. The study also indicates the potential for sustainable forest management through community-based approach.

Economic Valuation of Natural Forest: The Case of Hunase Forest, Gibe District, Hadiya Zone, Southern Ethiopia

“…The proportion of respondents who answer "yes" in the choice question decreases as the bid amount increases, which is consistent with the law of demand. This is consistent with the findings of Bamlaku et al (2015), Negewo et al (2016), andGetachew (2018).…”

“…The reason is that the farther the family residence is from the forest, the more inaccessible the benefits from the forest are, the lower the probability of WTP for conservation of this forest. The result agrees with the works of Yoeu and Pabuayon (2011), Tao et al, (2012), Amirnejad et al, (2013), Negewo et al, (2016), andGetachew, (2018). Bids amount (Bid1/Bid2):-As expected, both bid values one and two have a negative coefficient and are statistically significant at the 1% significance level.…”

“…The explanation for this could be that education raises people's knowledge of forest conservation and protection. Similar study was reported by Yoeu and Pabuayon (2011), Gebremariam and Edriss (2012), Girma, et al, (2012), Negewo et al (2016), Seifu, (2017 and Getachew, (2018).…”

Households' willingness to pay for forest conservation in Ethiopia: A review

“…However, most of the previous forest related CV studies conducted in developing countries like Ethiopia failed to include non-monetary payment vehicles such as labour time and they only used the monetary payment vehicle (money) (e.g. Mezgebo 2012;Negewo et al 2016;Seifu et al 2017;Getachew 2018;Ariyo et al 2018;Bamwesigye et al 2020). As a result, with failure to incorporate non-monetary payment vehicles into WTP elicitation, the estimated values cannot capture actual economic values of the resources in question and may lead to underestimate the welfare measure due to cash constraints in developing countries (Kassahun et al 2020).…”

Promoting harmony between local people and wild animals around the Humbo Community Managed Forest area, southern Ethiopia

“…It covers an area of 796 hectares. It is situated between 6°46″48.47 and 6°41″04.28N and from 37°48″35.44 to 37°55″14.51E (Negewo et al, 2016; Figure 1). The total population of the area is estimated at 162,000.…”