VALUES OF ECOLOGICAL GOODS AND SERVICES PROVIDED BY WETLAND FOR POLICY DEVELOPMENT IN SASKATCHEWAN

Abstract

The economic integration between natural and managed ecosystem is a growing area of interest to agricultural policy makers. The complexity of such integration has many different implications for the development of appropriate policy. Often, management of wetland resources located on private land involves a perceived conflict between social and private interests since landowners usually cannot benefit economically from wetlands on site unless they convert them to alternative uses such as agricultural crops. In general it has been shown that the market will undersupply public goods and/or oversupply public bads, and that often public organizations (e.g. government) have a role to ensure the provision of public goods, such as many categories of ecological goods and services (EG&S). The development of effective policy to ensure efficient provision of EG&S is hampered by a poor understanding of the preferences and values of EG&S held by farmers and society. Thus, the present work proposes the investigation of the preferences of society with respect to EG&S provision in the province of Saskatchewan. Using data from a survey of Saskatchewan residents, the willingness to pay (WTP) for wetland attributes was quantified. In addition, participant’s perceived share of conservation responsibilities were assessed. As indicated by the results from two logit models that were developed based on survey responses, respondents felt that all of the wetland management attributes are significant factors in the choice of a wetland management scenario, and ceteris paribus, higher levels of any single attribute increases the probability that a management scenario is selected. In other words, respondents prefer those wetland management scenarios which result in higher levels of riparian area, wildlife population and water quality. Indeed, the results from management scenarios presented in this study suggest that when considering wetland preservation in Saskatchewan agricultural areas, participants would most likely prefer policies that provide water quality. Overall, this study is expected to inform policy makers of society’s preferences towards EG&S provision in Saskatchewan.