Economic valuation of landscaping for wildlife habitat

We assess the value homeowners place on local wildlife by analyzing their willingness to invest time and money in landscaping their property to benefit local wildlife in New England, USA. Our approach quantifies time as a distinct measure of value and jointly estimates homeowners' willingness to spend (WTS) hours and willingness to pay (WTP) dollars for landscaping for wildlife habitat. We use a bivariate probit model to control the correlation between time and monetary decisions. Our findings reveal that homeowners are willing to spend an average of 101.8 h and $403.2 on landscaping their property to support wildlife habitats. Also, converting the WTS value into monetary terms and adding it to the WTP value reveals a total monetary valuation of $1517.7, reflecting a significant preference for wildlife conservation among homeowners in the region. Additionally, older homeowners (65+) are less willing to invest time or money, whereas urban residents are more willing, driven by limited access to natural spaces. Moreover, knowledge of local wildlife and care for their well-being significantly enhances participation in wildlife-friendly landscaping, while concerns about property damage by wildlife discourage participation.