Abstract
Loss in biodiversity of wetlands is a worldwide problem in maintaining the ecosystem of the earth. Thus, environmental valuation studies have performed benefit calculations to show the value of biodiversity. Here, few studies use the revealed preference methods due to the lack of data on wetland biodiversity. To solve this issue, this paper presented an approach to create data using expert judgment. Data on total numbers of representative species (TNRS) which were selected by experts was employed as indicators of the biodiversity of wetlands, and data on wetland area (AREA) were also employed for analysis. Data on travel behaviors to eleven Ramsar wetlands in Hokkaido, Japan were applied in the repeated discrete choice model. The results indicate that the approach of this paper would be applicable for estimating the relationship between individual behaviors and the biodiversity of wetlands. Next, benefit calculations were performed under the hypothesis that the values of AREA and TNRS improves by 10, 50, and 90%. The benefits of increasing wetland areas ranged from JPY 1 (USD 0.01) per year to JPY 14,901 (USD 182.19) per year. Those of improving wetland biodiversity ranged from JPY 44 (USD 0.54) per year to JPY 3,190 (USD 39.00) per year. Two types of wetlands were revealed by calculations. The first type includes wetlands in which the benefits of AREA are larger than those of TNRS. The second type includes wetlands in which the benefits of TNRS are larger than those of AREA, and the feature of the second type is that the wetland area is smaller than the first type. It means that large wetlands should be protected, and the small one with high biodiversity. Consequently, the research on wetlands species is required. The result indicates that benefits are connected to recreational services of wetland ecosystems. Key words: Benefit analysis, wetlands, biodiversity, travel cost method, JEL: D12, Q26, Q57.
Highlights
Wetlands are important natural resources for maintaining biodiversity (Uden et al, 2014)
The results indicate that the approach of this paper would be applicable for estimating the relationship between individual behaviors and the biodiversity of wetlands
A significant contribution of this paper is to present a simple technique of constructing wetland biodiversity data which may be widely applicable for other case studies
Summary
Wetlands are important natural resources for maintaining biodiversity (Uden et al, 2014). Many wetlands are in danger of decrease and/or disappearance due to developments of industries or agriculture (Turner et al, 2000). Meiji-Taisho era (between 1868-1926 years) to 820.99 km in the Heisei era (between 1996-1999 years); 61.1%. Of the total area of wetlands in Japan disappeared. The region where there is drastic decrease of wetland area is in Hokkaido (Hokkaido Prefectural Government, 2014). In Hokkaido, 1771.99 km wetland areas in the Meiji-Taisho era decreased to 708.67 km in the Heisei era due to development of industries or agriculture, having caused losses in the biodiversity of wetlands (Kuriyama, 1998; Kamayama et al, 2001; Morino et al, 2005)
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