Contingent valuation of landowner demand for forest amenities: application in Andalusia, Spain

We applied discrete choice contingent valuation to the amenities consumed by non-industrial private forest owners in Andalusia (Spain) in a survey of 765 landowners. The landowners' median willingness to accept compensation from an alternative investment for giving up land amenity consumption is EUR 387.8 per hectare yearly. The preferred model shows diminishing marginal values of amenity consumption with property size, negative effects of eucalyptus and Aleppo pine presence and positive effects of distance to urban centres. We discuss the performance of the question formats and models employed and recommend the single-bounded format in this valuation context.

Automated summary

This study applies discrete choice contingent valuation to assess the amenities consumed by non-industrial private forest owners in Andalusia, Spain. The findings reveal that the landowners' median willingness to accept compensation for giving up land amenity consumption is EUR 387.8 per hectare yearly. The preferred model shows diminishing marginal values of amenity consumption with property size, negative effects of eucalyptus and Aleppo pine presence, and positive effects of distance to urban centers. The study discusses the performance of question formats and models and recommends the use of the single-bounded format in this valuation context.