Willingness to pay for wetland conservation in Sri Lanka:A Contingent valuation Study

Abstract

A range of products are derived from wetlands and their freshwater habitats. Yet, wetland-ecosystems are often neglected or undervalued. The social and economic benefits of wetlands are numerous. Anthropogenic development activities, especially, unplanned urbanization, put wetlands at risk. Wetlands around the globe are reclaimed, modified, and overexploited for development purposes. Increase in population and high levels of resource consumption lead to land conversion. Upstream developments alter the quality and flow of water that feeds wetlands. Decision makers often have poor understanding of the environmental, cultural and economic value of wetlands as these are often perceived as having little or no value compared to uses yielding more visible and immediate economic benefits. In these circumstances, understanding the significance of wetlands in terms of their economic values is crucial in conserving and protecting such habitats. In addition, benefits of wetlands need to be reaped appositely. The objective of this study is to estimate the Willingness to Pay (WTP) for conservation of Mudun Ela and Kalu Oya watersheds, located in the Western Province Sri Lanka using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). Respondents were randomly selected for data collection through face-to-face interviews. For estimating the entrance fee to use for conservation was derived using the Tobit model. The marginal effects on probabilities in the Tobit model suggest that householders of postgraduate degree holders, who use wetland for education, research and agricultural purposes play a significant role in residents’ WTP for the protection of these wetlands. Therefore, householders with higher levels of education showed a positive effect on WTP to protect wetlands in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, households which use wetland for agricultural purposes showed negative effects on the WTP on practices of wetland protection.