An Estimation of Ecosystem Service Value of Rice Paddy Wetland in Korea Using Contingent Valuation Method

Agricultural land is an important ecosystem that is essential for human life, and rice paddies, in particular, provide many ecosystem services such as food production and the maintenance of biodiversity. Although the value of rice paddy wetlands is high, they are rapidly disappearing due to urbaniza...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water (Basel) 2023-12, Vol.15 (24), p.4263
Main Authors: Myeong, Soojeong, Yi, Donggyu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural land
Analysis
Biodiversity
Climate change
COVID-19
Dams
Ecosystems
Environmental economics
Floods
Industrial development
Land use
Questionnaires
Rice
Surveys
Valuation
Valuation methods
Water purification
Water supply
Wetlands
Willingness to pay
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Summary:Agricultural land is an important ecosystem that is essential for human life, and rice paddies, in particular, provide many ecosystem services such as food production and the maintenance of biodiversity. Although the value of rice paddy wetlands is high, they are rapidly disappearing due to urbanization and development. This study aims to estimate the monetary value of the rice paddy wetland ecosystem and investigate the proportion of benefits for each rice paddy wetland function to provide policy implications for rice paddy wetland management. To this end, this study conducted a survey with 988 South Korean citizens regarding rice paddy wetlands and adopted the contingent valuation method (CVM) with various approaches (double-bounded dichotomous choice pooled model, double-bounded dichotomous choice panel model, pseudo referendum model, open-ended question model, etc.). Considering the characteristics of each approach, the present value of the total willingness to pay (WTP) per household was estimated to range from 327 to 347 USD. When extrapolated to the entire country, the total WTP of all households in South Korea is estimated from 6.7 to 7.1 billion USD. This study also finds that households have an average WTP distribution ratio by paddy wetlands function as follows: food supply 33.8%, biodiversity 27.2%, disaster and pollution control 24.2%, and cultural services 14.8%. These findings have policy implications by providing valuable insights for decision-making in determining the priority and allocation levels of financial resources in the future design of policies related to paddy wetlands.
ISSN:2073-4441
2073-4441
DOI:10.3390/w15244263