The benefits and costs of riparian analysis habitat preservation: a willingness to accept/willingness to pay contingent valuation approach

The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) was used to obtain the willingness to pay (WTP) of households in the contiguous area of the Garonne River near Toulouse, France, and the willingness to accept (WTA) of households that currently own land on the banks of the river to provide a strip of riparian land for habitat preservation. Results for the WTP study indicated a relatively large difference in WTP between open and closed ended responses. When corrected for the substantial number of 0 observations, the WTP was reduced by about half. The WTA results were constrained by relatively few positive responses. However, the value given by farmers who indicated a positive WTA appears consistent with revenues generated from crops. Moreover, many farmers who were,already providing habitat preservation indicated a zero minimum WTA. Although the small number of WTA responses severely limits the ability to draw definitive conclusions, a comparison of the derived benefits (WTP) and costs (WTA) was made, which appeared to suggest the possibility of a favorable a benefit/cost ratio. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.