The economic benefits of soil erosion control: An application of the contingent valuation method in the Alto Genil basin of southern Spain

Abstract

Soil erosion results in many off-site negative effects such as eutrophication of waterways and impacts on landscape quality. Because these off-site effects are rarely “captured” in markets they are often given too little weight in policy decisions. In this paper, we apply the contingent valuation method (CV) to estimate the benefits of a soil erosion control program in the Alto Genil area of southern Spain to the general public. Our survey design attempts to reduce part-whole bias by getting respondents to also value other, substitute environmental programs. Our main finding is that a majority of the catchment's population is willing to pay to reduce off-site damages, and that current off-site damages impose costs of around 4–7 million euros1/year, or around 42–72 euros/hectare/year (17–29 euros/acre/year). Reminding respondents about substitute environmental projects is found to have a significant impact on the value placed on soil erosion control