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Willingness to Pay for Preserving Wetland Biodiversity: A Case Study

M. S. Bhatt, Showkat Ahmad Shah, Aijaz Abdullah

Abstract


The present study estimates the economic value of preserving biodiversity of Pongdam Wetland in Himachal Pradesh, a Ramsar Wetland in Western- Himalayas. A Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) was used to estimate Willingness to Pay (WTP) of 208 randomly selected respondents from the vicinities of Pongdam. Using single-bounded dichotomous choice format the mean Willingness to Pay worked out Rs. 75 per year. The mean open-ended WTP was estimated as Rs.368 per year. The results showed that the local people prefer to preserve the wetland biodiversity and are willing to pay for the Joint Management of the Pongdam biodiversity. This in turn can help policy makers to design a right mix of policy instruments and ensure sustainable use of Western Himalaya wetlands.

Keywords


Biodiversity, Wetland, Willingness to pay, CVM, Binary Logistic Regression.

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