Abstract

Timber production is the focus of forest management in Ghana. Environmental services are scarcely factored into forest management plans. This may be due to a lack of understanding and estimation of the value of environmental services. Using choice modelling, this study attempts to fill the information gap. Non-market attributes of forest plantations were identified from literature and reconnaissance surveys. Conjoint analysis was employed to estimate the value of these attributes. Orthogonal design was used to generate different combinations of attribute levels into profiles. Respondents ranked the profiles from most to least preferred. The results show that water regulation was the most influential attribute in the ranking of choice profiles. Farmers were willing to accept US$114.30·ha−1·year−1 as compensation for improving environmental services. Findings on the non-market environmental services and socioeconomic characteristics of farmers can help forest managers better evaluate actions and policies to enhance forest management.

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