Ecosystem Services Value Of Chaohu Wetland Restoration-an Empirical Study

China, in its mad dash for economic growth and transformation, has implemented anumber of ecosystem restoration projects to ease the conflict between economicdevelopment and ecological balance which becomes one of the key issues. First, thispaper defines the related concepts and theories of ecosystem services value and analyzesthe ecosystem services value contents of Chaohu wetland restoration. Second, anevaluation model of ecosystem services value is established by the threshold regressionmodel with the contingent valuation method (CVA), and then the ecosystem servicesvalue of Chaohu wetland restoration is estimated in the light of666questionnaires.Third, the factors that affect residents’ willingness to pay for its ecosystem servicesvalue on the basis of survey data are demonstrated. Finally, the main conclusions aresummarized.The results prove that:(1) The total ecosystem services value of Chaohu wetlandrestoration is6.903billion yuan per year, including5.501billion yuan per year fordirect use value,0.779billion yuan per year for indirect use value and0.623billionyuan per year for option value, genetic value and existence value.(2) Residents’willingness to pay for ecosystem is increasing with income rising. The education leveland knowledge degree are the prerequisite that respondents elevate their willingness topay for water resources, indirect use value and aquatic products value. Their marginalwillingness to pay in which great changes have taken place differs depending on therespondents’ education level and the knowledge about Chaohu wetland. On the otherhand, the extent of effects on different kinds of value of willingness to pay for Chaohuwetland varies with concerns and satisfactions in the population of differentoccupations.