Spatial Preference Heterogeneity for Integrated River Basin Management: The Case of the Shiyang River Basin, China

Integrated river basin management (IRBM) programs have been launched in most parts of China to ease escalating environmental degradation. Meanwhile, little is known about the benefits from and the support for these programs. This paper presents a case study of the preference heterogeneity for IRBM in the Shiyang River Basin, China, as measured by the Willingness to Pay (WTP), for a set of major restoration attributes. A discrete choice analysis of relevant restoration attributes was conducted. The results based on a sample of 1012 households in the whole basin show that, on average, there is significant support for integrated ecological restoration as indicated by significant WTP for all ecological attributes. However, residential location induced preference heterogeneities are prevalent. Generally, compared to upper-basin residents, middle sub-basin residents have lower mean WTP while lower sub-basin residents express higher mean WTP. The disparity in utility is partially explained by the difference in ecological and socio-economic status of the residents. In conclusion, estimating welfare benefit of IRBM projects based on sample responses from a specific sub-section of the basin only may either understate or overstate the welfare estimate

Knowledge, attitude and behavior of farmers in farmland conservation in China: an application of the structural equation model

<p>We analyzed the relationship between the conservation behavior of farmers and their environmental attitude and knowledge, whilst controlling for exogenous socio-economic factors. We employed the structural equation model with cross-sectional data from 442 farmers from the Guanzhong Plain of China. Results showed that local farmers generally possessed a positive environmental attitude and undertook considerable conservation action. Conservation behavior was directly affected by environmental attitude and indirectly by environmental knowledge (via attitude). Social networks, farm size, land rights, age and incentives were significant exogenous explanatory variables. Thus, understanding the importance of socio-behavioral characteristics, including the environmental attitude and knowledge of farmers, is important for the development of farmland conservation policies. Specifically, farmers in this area were found to significantly depend on each other for information on farmland conservation practices. Thus, role model farmer discussions, dissemination of environmentally friendly techniques via social networks and the rewarding of environmentally friendly behavior among farmers should be used to encourage ongoing restoration endeavors, and thereby help mitigate environmental degradation.</p

The Local Residents’ Concerns about Environmental Issues in Northwest China

This paper analyzes public awareness and perception about current issues of environmental and water resources in China in comparison to the socio-economic issues. The ranking, Likert scale, and ordered logit analysis were applied to data from 1773 sample residents in northwest China. The results show that the residents rank the degradation of the ecological environment and water resources as the most important issue, and education, political involvement, gender, employment, and residential location play significant roles in explaining the observed differences in concern. Of the possible environmental and water resource restoration policies, residents ranked water quantity and quality, agricultural and industrial water use, erosion control, vegetation restoration, wildlife habitat, animal brooding and migration services, biodiversity landscape, and eco-tourism from one to nine in order of importance, respectively. The results are relevant for policymaking and imply that environmental restoration is a high public demand. Welfare gains from investments in it would be higher or equal to gains from other socio-economic and livelihood activities. Thus, public policies must emphasize restoring and maintaining a sustainable ecological environment

Residential Environment Induced Preference Heterogeneity for River Ecosystem Service Improvements: A Comparison between Urban and Rural Households in the Wei River Basin, China

This paper assesses residential environment induced preference heterogeneity regarding ecosystem services improvements of a river basin by comparing urban and rural residents’ welfare estimates. In a choice experiment, the ecological improvements are described in terms of several observable ecological indicators set in an experimental design. Given the fact that economic and environmental conditions differ for urban and rural residents in China, the utility they derive from ecological restoration is hypothesized to differ. The urban and rural residents’ survey data were modeled separately using mixed logit models. The results reveal that water quality and water quantity, measured by unit of level improvement and percentage improvement, respectively, hold the highest marginal utility values in all respondents’ models. Urban and rural residents have the same preference regarding expanding soil erosion control areas and landscape improvement. However, they have statistically significant different utility for water quality, water quantity, forest coverage, ecotourism improvements, and reducing soil erosion intensity. Generally, urban residents express a higher implicit price for most of the ecological indicators. The findings imply that policy makers should take existing preference heterogeneity into account in designing ecosystem payment schemes and allocating resources