Comparing Local Residents’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Willingness to Volunteer (WTV) for Water Onion (<i>Crinum thaianum</i>) Habitat Conservation
In subsistence economies where cash is scarce, non-monetary numeraires can be used instead of cash as utility measures. In this study, we investigate the values of the Thai water onion (<i>Crinum thaianum</i>) (WO), an endangered native wetland plant, for each service enhancement in Thai...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Forests |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/13/5/706 |
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| author | Areeyapat Petcharat Jang-Hwan Jo Yohan Lee |
| author_facet | Areeyapat Petcharat Jang-Hwan Jo Yohan Lee |
| author_sort | Areeyapat Petcharat |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In subsistence economies where cash is scarce, non-monetary numeraires can be used instead of cash as utility measures. In this study, we investigate the values of the Thai water onion (<i>Crinum thaianum</i>) (WO), an endangered native wetland plant, for each service enhancement in Thailand, by using willingness to pay (WTP) money and willingness to volunteer (WTV) to measure the value of WO habitat conservation outcomes, including biodiversity, water quality, upstream conditions, and recreational opportunities. This study employs choice experiment (CE) surveys and face-to-face interviews with villagers in the WO areas of Phangnga and Ranong provinces in southern Thailand. The results show that improved upstream conditions are the most important benefit for residents, followed by biodiversity and water quality. Improving upstream conditions, biodiversity, and water quality from low to high would increase estimated annual welfare by USD 89 per person, while local residents would also provide an annual WTV of 80.2 days per person in exchange for considerable improvements in upstream conditions, biodiversity, and water quality. We found that low-income people are more likely to provide labor to improve ecosystem services. Overall, the findings suggest that the labor value, just as the monetary value, can also be used to evaluate the preferences for increased ecosystem services. This study implies that employing volunteer labor as a means of payment for accurate welfare estimations might be a practical alternative, and also allowing respondents to indicate their WTV may lead to an increase in the estimated value of ecosystem services. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:53:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-98589b56595e4e04b14d59e7050b4bd5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:53:24Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-98589b56595e4e04b14d59e7050b4bd52023-11-23T11:01:33ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072022-04-0113570610.3390/f13050706Comparing Local Residents’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Willingness to Volunteer (WTV) for Water Onion (<i>Crinum thaianum</i>) Habitat ConservationAreeyapat Petcharat0Jang-Hwan Jo1Yohan Lee2Royal Forest Department, 61 Phahonyothin Rd, Lat Yao, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, ThailandDepartment of Forest Sciences and Landscape Architecture, Wonkwang University, 460 Iksan-daero, Iksan 54538, KoreaDepartment of Forest Resources, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541, KoreaIn subsistence economies where cash is scarce, non-monetary numeraires can be used instead of cash as utility measures. In this study, we investigate the values of the Thai water onion (<i>Crinum thaianum</i>) (WO), an endangered native wetland plant, for each service enhancement in Thailand, by using willingness to pay (WTP) money and willingness to volunteer (WTV) to measure the value of WO habitat conservation outcomes, including biodiversity, water quality, upstream conditions, and recreational opportunities. This study employs choice experiment (CE) surveys and face-to-face interviews with villagers in the WO areas of Phangnga and Ranong provinces in southern Thailand. The results show that improved upstream conditions are the most important benefit for residents, followed by biodiversity and water quality. Improving upstream conditions, biodiversity, and water quality from low to high would increase estimated annual welfare by USD 89 per person, while local residents would also provide an annual WTV of 80.2 days per person in exchange for considerable improvements in upstream conditions, biodiversity, and water quality. We found that low-income people are more likely to provide labor to improve ecosystem services. Overall, the findings suggest that the labor value, just as the monetary value, can also be used to evaluate the preferences for increased ecosystem services. This study implies that employing volunteer labor as a means of payment for accurate welfare estimations might be a practical alternative, and also allowing respondents to indicate their WTV may lead to an increase in the estimated value of ecosystem services.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/13/5/706ecosystem serviceswillingness to paywillingness to volunteerchoice experimentswater onion (<i>Crinum thaianum</i>) |
| spellingShingle | Areeyapat Petcharat Jang-Hwan Jo Yohan Lee Comparing Local Residents’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Willingness to Volunteer (WTV) for Water Onion (<i>Crinum thaianum</i>) Habitat Conservation Forests ecosystem services willingness to pay willingness to volunteer choice experiments water onion (<i>Crinum thaianum</i>) |
| title | Comparing Local Residents’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Willingness to Volunteer (WTV) for Water Onion (<i>Crinum thaianum</i>) Habitat Conservation |
| title_full | Comparing Local Residents’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Willingness to Volunteer (WTV) for Water Onion (<i>Crinum thaianum</i>) Habitat Conservation |
| title_fullStr | Comparing Local Residents’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Willingness to Volunteer (WTV) for Water Onion (<i>Crinum thaianum</i>) Habitat Conservation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Comparing Local Residents’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Willingness to Volunteer (WTV) for Water Onion (<i>Crinum thaianum</i>) Habitat Conservation |
| title_short | Comparing Local Residents’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Willingness to Volunteer (WTV) for Water Onion (<i>Crinum thaianum</i>) Habitat Conservation |
| title_sort | comparing local residents willingness to pay wtp and willingness to volunteer wtv for water onion i crinum thaianum i habitat conservation |
| topic | ecosystem services willingness to pay willingness to volunteer choice experiments water onion (<i>Crinum thaianum</i>) |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/13/5/706 |
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