Measuring the non-use value of the Dugong (Dugong dugon) in Thailand

The dugong is an herbivorous marine mammal species, being vulnerable to extinction throughout its range in the Indo-Pacific region. This paper used the choice experiment method to elicit the non-use value, or the non-users’ willingness to pay (WTP) for conserving the dugongs in Thailand. A face-to-face interview was used to obtain data from 300 residents in five selected districts of Bangkok. The results show that the average WTP for the most preferred dugong conservation scheme (a marker buoy system, recreating habitats, and slowing down the population decline) was 4,382 Thai Baht (USD122) annually per household. Significantly, developing the marker buoy system to identify dugong habitats was the most valued by the general public. However, the respondents were not willing to pay for educating local fishers about the conservation of dugongs. Our results implies that a conservation policy should concentrate on the participation of key fishers in dugong protection projects using incentive measures. We also suggest the government to create protected areas as dugong sanctuaries that consistently support the remaining dugong population

Valuing Ecosystem Services in the Bang Ka Chao Green Area, Thailand

Bang Ka Chao, the largest green area in the Bangkok metropolitan area, delivers significant ecosystem services to sustain society free of charge. It is therefore difficult to achieve socially optimal services because of inefficient allocation of resources, over-consumption, and negative externalities resulting from market failures. This study assesses the value, or consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP), for enhanced ecosystem services from the Bang Ka Chao Green Area and to investigate factors influencing the WTP of Bangkok residents. The choice experiment approach was applied by interviewing 200 respondents living in the Bangkok metropolitan area. The data were collected between July and September 2016 and analyzed using a conditional logit model. The results reveal that the respondents are willing to pay USD41.5 per year to improve the ecosystem services provided by the Green Area. The respondents identified air purification as the most important service, while food products and recreational benefits were somewhat important, and bird habitat was the least important. We therefore suggest that the government take immediate steps to establish restoration projects with the concrete objective of enhancing regulating services, especially air purification. Traditional agricultural practices (mixed fruit orchards), agroforestry, and agritourism should also be implemented and promoted in the green area. Therefore, a payment for ecosystem services (PES) scheme funded by Bangkok and recreational users should be a possible approach to guarantee the quality of the ecosystem services provided by the landowners within the Bang Ka Chao Green Area

Comparing Local Residents’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Willingness to Volunteer (WTV) for Water Onion (Crinum thaianum) 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 (Crinum thaianum) (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