Public Attitudes, Preferences and Willingness to Pay for River Ecosystem Services

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 16; no. 19; p. 3707
• Main Authors: Khan, Imran, Lei, Hongdou, Ali, Gaffar, Ali, Shahid, Zhao, Minjuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.10.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Aquatic ecosystems; Attitude; Attitudes; Awareness; China; Climate change; Conservation of Natural Resources - economics; Conservation of Natural Resources - methods; Ecology - organization & administration; Ecosystem services; Ecosystems; Environmental changes; Environmental degradation; Environmental economics; Environmental policy; Experiments; Humans; Land use; Logistic Models; Policy Making; Public Opinion; River basins; River ecology; Rivers; Socioeconomic Factors; Soil water; Studies; Valuation; Water loss; Water pollution; Water Quality; Water Resources; Water scarcity; Willingness to pay; China; Random parameter logit (RPL) model; Ecosystem services; Environmental awareness; Environmental policy; Public attitude; Water quality
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16193707

River basins are key sources of ecosystem services, with a wide range of social and economic benefits and many effects on human well-being. However, intensified land use and other dramatic variations in river ecosystems can alter ecosystem functions and services. In this study, we explored the public awareness, attitude and perception regarding environmental and water resource issues and assessed the willingness to pay (WTP) for improving selected attributes of the Wei River basin. Various rankings, Likert scales and random parameter logit (RPL) models were used to analyze data obtained from 900 surveyed respondents. Most respondents were more concerned about environmental and water resource management issues rather than socioeconomic attributes. From a policy perspective, 83.32% and 50.50% of the residents ranked "improvement in water quality" and "improving irrigation conditions," respectively, as their main priorities regarding ecological restoration. Moreover, the results obtained using RPL models showed that the coefficients were significant for all ecological attributes and monetary attributes, as expected. The positive and significant coefficient for the alternative specific constant demonstrated that the respondents preferred restoration alternatives to the status quo. Furthermore, the highest WTP was found for water quality (91.99 RMB), followed by erosion intensity (23.59 RMB) and water quantity (11.79 RMB). Our results are relevant to policy development and they indicate that ecological restoration is the favored option.