Assessing The Willingness To Pay For Conservation And Management Of Ghodaghodi Lake Wetland In Kailali District Of Nepal

Abstract

Wetlands are one of the most productive and at the same time most notorious ecosystems especially in developing countries where human pressure continues to push the ecologies towards increasing degradation. Another sustainable approach to the conservation of these ecosystems has been the creation of community-based conservation through mobilisation of the local residents in the management of these ecosystems. The current research explores how local communities are willing to pay (WTP) to conserve Ghodaghodi Lake which is among the Nepal Ramsar-listed wetlands and which variables of socio-economic and perceptions are the determinants of such support. The study faces the wider challenge of safeguarding environmental resources which, although of ecological and cultural importance, are underestimated and they are often misused due to being non-commercial and public goods. The first goal is to measure the amount of the economic contribution that the local community makes to the conservation of the wetlands by evaluating their WTP. Data were gathered through the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) in order to reduce the hypothetical bias by having 530 respondents complete a structured, closed-ended questionnaire with the use of follow-up questions.

Descriptive and econometric analysis depict that the average WTP in conservation activities is NPR 265 every month. The results of logistic regression show that age, education, household income, respondent category, type of activity, perceived value of the lake, and beliefs regarding responsible managing bodies have a significant effect in increasing the likelihood of expressing WTP. On the contrary, distance to the lake and bigger family size have negative relationships with WTP.

These results highlight the imperative need to incorporate the socio-economic determinants in the wetland management plans. They show that conservation policies need to be based on the priorities of the community, the perceived benefits, and the ability to give. Therefore, the paper can provide evidence-based information to government agencies and policymakers interested in designing effective, participatory and locally responsive conservation programmes to Ghodaghodi Lake and similar wetland ecosystem in developing regions.