Conflicting Interest in the Production of Wind Energy: Public Demand for Shores without Wind Turbines

In contrast to countries with longer experience in the field, Estonia has not actively included public opinion into the planning process of new wind farms. Wind farms in Estonia are built mainly on the coast, 90% of which is covered with natural surface. The paper investigates, using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), the willingness of Estonian inhabitants to pay for preserving the Estonian coastal zone wind turbines free. Total demand of Estonian adult population for Estonian shores in their natural condition without wind turbines is found to be considerable 23.4 million euro annually. The demand of the population for the preservation of the nature underlines the need for changes in national strategies for the wind power sector

Contingent Valuation as a Tool for Environmental Economic Accounting: Case of Estonia

The article deals with the possibilities of including non-market ecosystem services into official statistics. Current statistical standard and the GDP calculated on the basis of it do not take into account the value of ecosystem services and therefore the contribution of ecosystems. In recent years (2020–2021) has taken place the revision of System of Environmental-Economic Accounting– Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (UN SEEA EA), aimed at developing a standard for statistics on ecosystem services. Statistics Estonia also participates in this process, using as an input to the experimental statistics of ecosystem services (among other data) the results of the contingent valuation study conducted by the author on the monetary value of ecosystem services of Estonian forests, wetlands and urban areas. The total annual willingness to pay for forest ecosystem services is about 23.9 million euros, for wetland services 12.3 million euros and for urban areas 17.3 million euros. The most important services considered by the respondents were regulatory services. Also, the relative importance of individual services by respondents were examined separately. It turned out that people value ecosystem services aimed at the physical-chemical quality of the environment more than the increase in welfare resulting from personal contact with ecosystems

Willingness to pay for urban ecosystem services as input for statistics: a case of Estonia

Finding a monetary equivalent for non-market ecosystem services is precondition to develop a worldwide standard for statistics on ecosystem services. The objectiv of this study is to find out the monetary equivalent of the value of Estonian urban ecosystem services and to determine the dependence of people's willingness to pay on their sociometric indicators.. Using the contingent valuation method, the willingness to pay (WTP) of the Estonian adult population for the maintenance and management of Estonian urban ecosystems has been identified. The total annual WTP is about 17 million euros. Using regression analysis, it was determined that the amount of WTP is positively related to education level, income and gender (women pay more), but not related to age of respondents. In order to divide the total WTP among all the services of all the ecosystems studied, the respondents were asked to rank the urban ecosystems and the services they provide according to their subjective preference. The highest rank among ecosystems received large parks and among ecosystem services urban air purification. According to the results obtained, a matrix was compiled in which all services of the studied all ecosystems are assigned a monetary equivalent, which can be used as an input in the statistics on ecosystem services

The foregone recreation value of Lake Ülemiste. Ülemiste järve kaotatud rekreatiivne väärtus

Since Soviet times Lake Ülemiste has been closed to public access. The current practice of Tallinn may entail unnecessary losses of benefits to the local population. The aim of this paper is to find the value of the foregone benefits. In order to find this value, a contingent valuation (CVM) survey was conducted involving a sample of the adult population of Tallinn. According to the survey the average willingness to pay is 6.6 Euro and the recreational benefits foregone were estimated to 1.8 million Euros annually. In order to safeguard the quality of the drinking water, additional measures may be needed. Discounted over a 30 year period allows investments of a maximum of 26 million Euro. Applying the current investment plan of Gothenburg to Tallinn shows that the recreational value of opening the lake to the public is sufficiently large to cover Gothenburg’s coal filter investments to be carried out in Tallinn