Quantifying the spatial preferences heterogeneity to upgrade the endemic ecological attributes for a cleaner environment: Evaluating the feasibility of benefit transfer among sub-basins of an inland river

Abstract

The role of wetlands in the conservation of global biodiversity is very significant due to the provision of various benefits to households. The assessment of these benefits and general public perception in terms of their willingness to pay for restoring the degraded ecosystem services is also heterogeneous because of their spatial preferences. This research employed a choice experiment technique to evaluate willingness to pay of the households to improve the current degraded ecosystem services and assessed benefit transfer among upper, middle and lower sub-basins of Heihe River. The outcomes of the study were estimated through two models, i.e. the conditional logit and random parameter logit models. The heterogeneous willingness to pay amounts for ecosystem services confirm the variations in taste and preferences of the respondents across all sub-basins. Considering spatial heterogeneity of the preferences, the random parameter logit model resulted in smaller transfer errors than the conditional logit model. The values of transfer errors estimated by the random parameter logit model from the lower to the upper sub-basin, from the upper to the middle sub-basin and from the middle to the lower sub-basin were 17.76%, 80.65% and 33.92%, respectively, and the reason for these smaller values is the consideration of taste and preferences of the respondents. On the other hand, the estimated values of transfer errors for the same settings in the conditional logit model were 21.93%, 109.31% and 43.08%, respectively. The transfer error values thus validate the transfer of benefits across all the sub-basins of the river. Therefore, the current findings are helpful in proper management of ecosystem services and permit for benefit transfer from one sub-basin to another sub-basin of Heihe River.

Keywords: Benefit transfer; Choice experiment; Heihe River basin; Random parameter logit model; Spatial heterogeneity; Willingness to pay.