Do residential localities matter? Revisiting preference heterogeneity and ranking of ecological attributes of an inland river basin

Abstract

Recognition of public preferences and the assessment of the river basin are valuable for efficient river basin management, and improvement in ecological attributes of river basin can provide considerable non-market benefits. Accordingly, the current study examines the heterogeneity in preferences and ranking of river ecosystem services amongst residents on the basis of their willingness to pay (WTP) to enhance these services. Given the different environmental and economic conditions of urban and rural residents in China, their views on ecological restoration differ. Various Likert scales were used to explore residents' perceptions and ranking of ecological attributes. Findings revealed that urban and rural residents care about water for their daily life, with the mean value of 2.08 and 2.10 and the lowest standard deviation of 1.63 and 1.59, respectively where the range of scale is ‘1 is the most important and 7 is the least important’. Agricultural and industrial water, weather management in Yangsha Lake, vegetation restoration, biodiversity conservation and downstream ecological protection were the next most imperative ecological attributes. Moreover, the results from random parameter logit (RPL) models show that river water quality has the highest marginal utility value, whereas recreational conditions have the lowest marginal utility value in all respondents' models. A considerable difference exists amongst urban and rural residents' WTP for improvements in ecological amenities. Amongst all households, lower basin residents prefer and value ecological attributes and are ready to pay whatever cost for restoration. Generally, urban residents have high implicit prices for most of river ecosystem attributes. Findings reveal that the policymakers should consider the existing preference heterogeneity when designing ecosystem payment plans and allocating resources.