Assessing the Cultural Ecosystem Services Value of Protected Areas Considering Stakeholders’ Preferences and Trade-Offs—Taking the Xin’an River Landscape Corridor Scenic Area as an Example

Yue Su, Congmou Zhu, Lin Lin, Cheng Wang, Cai Jin, Jing Cao, Tan Li () and Chong Su
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Yue Su: College of Economics and Management, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
Congmou Zhu: Department of Land Resources Management, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Lin Lin: College of Humanities and Foreign Languages, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Cheng Wang: College of Economics and Management, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
Cai Jin: College of Economics and Management, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
Jing Cao: College of Economics and Management, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
Tan Li: College of Economics and Management, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
Chong Su: College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 21, 1-16

Abstract: Improving the accuracy of cultural ecosystem services (CESs) value assessment and paying more attention to the preferences and trade-offs of stakeholders in the administration of CESs are of vital importance for achieving resilient ecosystem management. Combining methodologies from sociology (Q method) and economics (choice experiment), an assessment framework of CESs is introduced to examine stakeholders’ preferences and willingness to pay to participate in CESs in protected areas so as to explore how the value of CESs in protected areas can be optimized. The results show that the selection of CESs by stakeholders reflects certain synergies and trade-offs. Visitors can be classified as preferring humanistic–natural recreation, aesthetic–sense of place, or environmental education according to the factor ranking of the Q method. Visitors have a higher willingness to pay for humanistic heritage and a lower willingness to pay for sense of place experience, which can be measured at $6.55 per visit and $0.96 per visit, respectively. This indicates that the local customs and characteristics should be further explored and promoted through traditional festival celebrations and farming activities in further development of protected areas, apart from protecting local cultural heritages such as Huizhou ancient villages and halls. Furthermore, it is also necessary to actively explore the synergistic development of CESs, promote social participation, raise stakeholders’ awareness of available services, manage visitors and stakeholders from a demand perspective, and promote the realization of the value of ecological products in protected areas.

Keywords: cultural ecosystem services; Q methodology; choice experiment method; preference; trade-off; sustainable management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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