River Ecosystem Resilience: Applying the Contingent Valuation Method in Vietnam

Mine water drainage interferes with ecosystems of the discharging river, whilst river ecosystem services in return affect the livelihoods and well-being of adjacent communities. In Ha Long, Vietnam, surface coal mining will be closed after 2025 following the national and provincial strategy toward sustainable development. This opens up an opportunity to rehabilitate the associated rivers to increase resilience in the surrounding social-ecological system (SES) heavily affected by water pollution from coal mines. Increasing resilience through rehabilitation is costly and policy makers often lack precise enough information on public benefits to make good decisions. In this study, we apply the concept of SESs to analyze the interrelationship between river ecosystems and human society with its institutions and local governance surrounding the Ha Long coal mining area. Applying a contingent valuation survey with 410 households living near to the mining operations, we assess the public benefits resulting from three different but partly combined projects to increase resilience. Results show that households are significantly willing to contribute to all proposed resilience increasing projects. Factors explaining willingness to pay (WTP) are diverse and are found to be related to common institutions and local governance. Through a comparison of the results for the three projects, we find the presence of embedding effects and identify factors leading to upward biased estimates of WTP. Our study contributes to a better understanding and valuation of public benefits in SES necessary for public policy towards increasing resilience in developing countries.