Economic Valuation Of Wetlands According To Different Management Scenarios

Managing wetland resources is a very complicated mission because wetland is a kind of natural environment that is much more complex than others. It can be regarded as a commodity owing to its scarcity and the number of services rendered.Hubei, one of the provinces in central China, although is rich with biological resources and well-known for its numerous water resources, it has been cited as the most environmentally degraded area. Therefore, the government faced to decide whether to protect environment and natural resource or develop local economy by using natural resource.The main objective of this study is to evaluate the values of wetlands according to different management scenarios (I: Current practices; II: Conservative scenario; III: Conversion scenario) in a case studies of the Hubei province and three representative study areas (Luoshan, Yangchaihu and Qujiawan) are chosen in Honghu wetland. Each targeted area stands for one specific characteristic of management strategy.The result of this study shows that there is an upward trend of income from Scenario I to III according to the results of the household survey. Based on the WTP survey, it also illustrates that nearly all respondents are willing to pay for visiting the reserve even though the entry fee was increased. The tourism adds economic value to local people at best and provides pressure on wetland resources at worst. Therefore, management of wetland should, on the one hand, comply with its natural but complicated characteristics, and on the other hand, accommodate its economic characteristics while giving full consideration to its acceptance by society.Special recommendations are suggested as follows: applying comprehensive methods and multiple policy supports; relying more on economic methods; emphasizing wetland resource protection; highlighting infrastructure financing and encouraging wide participation and sharing of knowledge and information.