Conservation and contingent valuation of farming landscape amenities by visitors: A case study of terraced paddy fields in Central Japan

Abstract

The contingent valuation method was used with a payment card approach to estimate visitors’ willingness to pay (WTP) to conserve a traditional agricultural landscape of terraced paddy fields in coastal rural Japan. Eighty percent of participants indicated their WTP toward a conservation fund, with estimated mean and median WTP of JPY 953.5 (~ USD $8.99) and JPY 456.4 (~ USD $4.30) per visit per person. Personal income and proximity to residence both positively influenced WTP amount; visitors’ attachment to land and loyalty were positively associated with their willingness to pay for landscape conservation. Actual conservation costs are currently mostly funded by the public municipal budget (56%) and urban volunteers (43%), but government funding sources are declining and becoming unreliable. These findings suggest that visitor donations may supplement existing funding sources for the conservation of terraced paddy field landscapes. However, farmer successors are needed for farm management to sustain traditional farming and rural communities, since a living farm and a vigorous community are essential for rural tourism.