Non-market benefits of forest conservation in southern Finland

Abstract

This study analyses Finnish citizens' valuations of forest conservation programmes for southern Finland. Contingent valuation (CV) and choice experiment (CE) methods were applied. According to the CV results, 74% of respondents were prepared to pay for increased conservation and 16% supported increased conservation but were not willing to pay for it. A further 5% were indifferent and 5% supported a decrease in forest conservation. In CE, only 14% of respondents chose the present conservation level in all eight choice tasks, indicating zero willingness-to-pay (WTP). Average WTP for increased biodiversity conservation ranged from 60 to 223 € per household per year, depending on the described project and measurement method. In addition to costs per household, the number of conserved biotopes and endangered plant and animal species had an effect on the probability of support for increased conservation. Aggregate WTP measures for different biodiversity conservation programmes were compared with the suggested costs of the programmes. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.