Economic valuation of the non-use attributes of a south-western coastal wetland in Bangladesh

Abstract

Being located in the south-western hydrological region of Bangladesh, Chanda Beel, a coastal freshwater wetland, is threatened by over-exploitation of resources. Therefore, this study made an attempt to estimate the non-use values of the wetland to realise its hidden values. The study used the contingent valuation method (CVM) method to place a value on the non-use attributes of the wetland and the results show that the non-use value is approximately US$ 0.48 million annually. The effects of socio-economic factors on willingness to pay (WTP) were also examined. Finally, the paper concludes that the estimated nonuse values need to be incorporated for a better management of the wetland resources.

Factors Influencing Farmers’ Willingness to Participate in Wetland Restoration: Evidence from China

“…The marginal effect shows that an increase of 10,000 RMB (1 RMB ≈ 0.17 USD) in net household income decreases participation probability by three percentage points. This result differs from the positive impact reported by Ghosh and Mondal [17] and Petrolia and Kim [23]. This finding may be attributed to the fact that farmers with higher net household incomes tend to be non-cropping households and their main income sources are non-agricultural activities (the correlation between household net income and non-agricultural income is about 0.97).…”

“…Our results also suggest that age has no significant influence on farmers' willingness to participate in wetland restoration in our sample. Similar to Ghosh and Mondal [17] and Zhang et al [20], gender is also found to not affect farmers' willingness to participate. Consistent with most empirical results, education level (Education) plays an important role in farmers' participation decisions.…”

“…For example, while Söderqvist [15] shows that age has no impact on wetland restoration decisions, Petrolia and Kim [23] find a positive impact, and Ghosh and Mondal [17] and Zhang et al [20] find a negative impact. Our results also suggest that age has no significant influence on farmers' willingness to participate in wetland restoration in our sample.…”

“…Both Ambastha et al [16] and Yu and Belcher [10] found farm characteristics such as farm size or cultivation area had significant influences on farmers' willingness to support wetland protection and conservation. Meanwhile, Ghosh and Mondal [17] examined the effects of socioeconomic factors on households' willingness to contribute to the Chanda Beel freshwater wetland management program in Bangladesh; they showed that education and household income were positively associated with willingness to contribute while age was negatively associated with willingness to contribute. Kim and Petrolia [18] estimated factors that affect local households' willingness for preventing future loss of Louisiana coastal wetlands in the United States.…”

Ecological Conservation, Ecotourism, and Sustainable Management: The Case of Penang National Park

“…The positive relationship between these variables is generally supported by the literature. For example [16,50,[52][53][54][55] indicated that highly educated people and those with higher income are more supportive of nature preservation and have higher WTP.…”