ECONOMIC VALUATION OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN YALA SWAMP WETLAND KENYA USING DISCRETE CHOICE EXPERIMENT

Abstract

Wetlands provide numerous ecosystem goods and services that are important to the development and survival of dependent communities. Through maintaining the wetlands, biodiversity is protected, and there is sustainable use and management of natural resources. The Yala swamp wetland is Kenya’s largest freshwater wetland and has been recognized for its ecological and socio-economic services such as regulatory, provisioning, supporting, and cultural. The goods and services provided by Yala swamp are not priced in the market, and their value is not immediately apparent. By measuring the importance of the wetland, economic valuation is a powerful tool to express the value of wetland goods and services in the monetary unit. This study, therefore, attempts to estimate the economic value of ecosystem goods and services provided by the Yala swamp ecosystem wetland using the deliberative choice experiment as a first step toward providing an economic base for promoting sustainable utilization of the wetland. The objectives of this study were; to determine the household’s preferences for ecosystem services in Yala Swamp Kenya and to estimate the willingness to pay level for the conservation of the Yala swamp ecosystem. The attributes assessed include fish richness and abundance (FISH), conservation of biodiversity area (IBA), Crop farming area (FARMING), grazing area (GRAZING), and Wetland Management (GOVERNANCE), payment vehicle (COST). 250 respondents drawn from five locations selected through systematic random sampling were engaged through focus group discussion. Fishery, farming, grazing, and governance are the factors that were found to be significant at a 5% confidence level thus affecting WTP. The mean willingness to pay for the improvement of governance attribute is the highest which is 3 bags of maize and it is significant at 5%. The mean willingness to pay for the improvement of IBA (Importance Bird Area) and farming is 0.04 and 0.17 bags of maize respectively. The respondents are willing to pay 2 bags of maize for the improvement of fishery attributes in the ecosystem. Finally, the respondents are willing to pay 0.12 bags of maize for the improvement of the grazing attributes. The research findings suggest that market-based conservation schemes aiming at improving the provision of ecosystem services through incentives for ecosystem services providers can be formulated to target specific interventions in the Yala swamp. Since fishery falls under agriculture which is a devolved function county governments and county assemblies need to allocate more funds for fisheries development. Some of these funds can be raised through public-private partnerships (PPPs) since the study has demonstrated that households have a high willingness to pay for fishery improvements. The study demonstrates that governance is an important issue among the local communities and needs to be resolved if meaningful wetland-based development is to take place. Poor involvement of local community members may explain the perceived low WTP for improvement of IBA (biodiversity conservation) and other livelihood activities. Findings from this study can inform community-based and community-led conservation education and wetland development programme, use policies and implementation of other environmentally sustainable and compatible low technology livelihood activities such as papyrus product industries, apiculture, raising tree seedlings and finger pond aquaculture.