Estimating residents' WTP for ecosystem services improvement in a payments for ecosystem services (PES) program: A choice experiment approach

Conservation programs help mitigate the detrimental effects on ecosystems and ecosystem services (ES). However, continuous financial support is essential for their sustainability. Therefore, sustainable financing mechanisms such as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are developed. Nevertheless, assessing whether substantial support could be obtained from stakeholders is critical in establishing a PES. This study evaluated the feasibility of establishing a PES by estimating the potential community benefits from ES improvement using a choice modeling approach. The study surveyed 1560 residents of South Carolina to elicit their monthly willingness-to-pay (WTP) for ES improvement. The findings revealed varying WTP estimates depending on the type of intervention, regional location of the residences, and priority ES for improvement. In terms of water quality improvement, the estimated mean WTP ranged from $0 to $3.00. On the other hand, for wildlife habitat improvement, the mean WTP ranged from $0 to $6.39. Finally, for an increase in water supply, only residents from the Upstate region indicated that they are willing with a mean WTP of $0.31. Overall, the community benefits are estimated to reach $4.6 million to $6.2 million monthly, showing that PES is a promising program that could provide a substantial source to support conservation programs.