Abstract:

The optimised design of project alternatives is a main challenge for the early stage of any real-world planning process. For participatory conservation planning procedures as required, e.g., by the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) Ecosystem Approach, it is essential to involve concerned stakeholders – and their values – as early as possible. We argue that the utilisation of choice experiments offers an attractive solution to the problem of an optimised design of project alternatives. In particular, we report experiences from two case studies employing choice experiments to generate policy advice. In both case studies, the necessity of dealing with the ambiguities of participatory planning processes led to the adoption of a payment vehicle format that includes WTP and WTA attribute levels. Like several other studies, we found evidence of WTP/WTA disparities that argue for reporting both values to stakeholders and administrators.

KEYWORDS: conservation planning, WTP/WTA disparity, attribute design