Abstract
Bang Kachao, the largest green area in the Bangkok metropolitan area, delivers significant ecosystem services to sustain society free of charge. It is therefore difficult to achieve socially optimal services because of inefficient allocation of resources, over-consumption, and negative externalities resulting from market failures. This study’s purpose is to assess consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for enhancing ecosystem services from the Bang Kachao Green Area and to investigate factors influencing the WTP of Bangkok residents. A choice experiment was applied by interviewing 200 respondents living in the Bangkok metropolitan area. The data were collected between July and September 2016 and analyzed using a conditional logit model. The results reveal that the respondents are willing to pay 42 USD per year to improve the ecosystem services in Bang Kachao. The respondents demand clean air the most, followed by food, recreation, and bird diversity. The government of Bangkok may take proactive steps to promote agroforestry and ecotourism in Bang Kachao. A Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) scheme may ensure the provision of ecosystem services in Bang Kachao.
Highlights
Green areas are demanded by urban residents because they deliver significant ecosystem services, including clean air, water regulation, food and agricultural products, biodiversity protection, and cultural services [1,2]
The objective of this study is to examine the preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) of residents in the Bangkok metropolitan area for enhancing the ecosystem services provided by the Bang Kachao Green Area through a choice experiment design
This study focused on the estimation of the welfare gained by improving ecosystem services provided by the Bang Kachao Green Area, and it employed a choice experiment method to estimate the value of, or the so-called WTP for, quality changes in different ecosystem service attributes in the green area
Summary
Green areas are demanded by urban residents because they deliver significant ecosystem services, including clean air, water regulation, food and agricultural products, biodiversity protection, and cultural services [1,2]. Bang Kachao is the largest green area in Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand [5]. Because a large area of Bang Kachao is covered by a rich biodiversity of trees, herbaceous plants, and food crops [7], it offers various provisioning services to community members [8]. Another benefit provided by this green area is cultural services, especially the Sri Nakhon Khuean Khan Park, which was created as a green space for recreational users. The Bang Kachao Green Area has contributed to the wellbeing of local communities and millions of Bangkok citizens
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