Willingness to Pay for Mangroves’ Coastal Protection: A Case Study in Santo Angel, Calauag, Quezon, Philippines

Background

People recognize mangroves for providing crucial coastal protection against strong wave actions, including tsunamis and storm surges, with examples from Bangladesh, Florida, and the Philippines demonstrating their effectiveness. However, despite their importance, global mangrove extent has been decreasing, primarily due to human activities, particularly in Southeast Asia. In the Philippines, land-use conversion, exploitation, and natural hazards have significantly reduced mangrove areas since the early 1900s.

Goals and Methods

The goal of this paper is to evaluate the willingness to pay (WTP) of the local community in Santo Angel, Philippines, for a hypothetical mangrove rehabilitation project aimed at coastal protection. Santo Angel is a coastal community susceptible to typhoons and storm surges, and its mangrove cover has declined due to overexploitation. The study aims to determine the factors influencing WTP and the awareness of the protective role of mangroves. Researchers survey a total of 210 randomly selected households in Santo Angel using a pre-tested, double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method (DBDC CVM) questionnaire. The questionnaire assesses the respondents' knowledge, attitudes, practices, and awareness regarding mangroves and storm surges and presents a hypothetical mangrove rehabilitation scenario with modeled maps and explained benefits.

Conclusions and Takeaways

The study finds that 79% of the surveyed households in Santo Angel are willing to pay for the mangrove rehabilitation project. The mean willingness to pay (MWTP) is Php 15.44 (USD 0.29) per household per month. This amounts to a total of Php 86,525.76 (USD 1,659.41) per year for the community. Logistic regression analysis reveals that sex, age, membership in environmental organizations, and awareness of the economic importance and ecological services of mangroves positively affect WTP, while the bid amount and the respondent’s income negatively influence WTP. The majority of those willing to pay believe the project would protect them from calamities. Policymakers and project designers can use the identified MWTP value and influencing factors to design and implement community-based mangrove rehabilitation projects in Santo Angel and other similar coastal areas. Future work should explore the valuation of other ecological services of mangroves for a more holistic approach to rehabilitation and conservation. Policymakers should also consider the financial constraints of some residents and explore non-monetary contributions for mangrove rehabilitation efforts.