Revisiting the Value of Various Ecosystems: Considering Spatiality and Disaster Concern

Abstract

Recently, concerns about ecosystem loss and the threat of disasters have emerged. Understanding people’s perception of the ecosystem’s value will lead to disaster adaptation through ecosystem conservation. We incorporated use and disaster attributes into a contingent valuation study to investigate Japanese peoples’ perceptions of the value of various ecosystems. We construct a concept representing ecosystems’ perceived disaster prevention and mitigation functions by investigating the effects of use status and disaster concerns on people’s preferences. Results revealed that almost all of the ecosystem’s disaster prevention and mitigation functions are not perceived by people. In some cases, people mistakenly avoid ecosystems that protect people from disasters. In conclusion, this concept and its findings facilitate an understanding of people’s perceptions of disaster prevention mitigation functions of ecosystems and promote the concrete practice of conserving ecosystems.