Willingness To Accept Payment For Conservation Of Ecosystem Services In Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania And Taita Hills, Kenya

ABSTRACT

A Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) was adopted to elicit monetary values of ecosystem services among sampled households in Taita Hills, Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. The aim was to find out the amount of money the households are willing to accept as compensation every year to trade-off between conservation of ecosystems and the ongoing destructive socio-economic activities taking place in the areas; and how it differs along the altitudinal gradient and across users groups. Multi-stage and simple random sampling techniques were used to select respondents in the two study areas. Data were collected from 352 respondents through interviews using a structured questionnaire. Findings showed that mean Willingness to Accept (WTA) compensation in Mount Kilimanjaro were USD 128.72, 195.74 and 223.90 per household per year for low, mid and highland areas respectively. Mean WTA compensation in Taita Hills were USD 217.2, 310.97 and 429.84 per household per year for low, mid and highland areas respectively. Female headed households had a relatively higher mean WTA (USD 267.78 per household per year) as compared to male headed households (USD 234.79 per household per year). Household size, age and environmental income of the head of household were the significant predictors at 5% level of significant as determined by the multiple regression analysis. It can be concluded from this study that, households residing at highlands have a relative higher mean WTA payments as compared to their adjacent lowland households. Female, headed households had as well higher mean WTA payments as compared to male headed households. The study, therefore, recommends that PES schemes should be tailored to meet unique requirements of the different user groups along the altitudinal gradient and address their specific constraints.