Factors Determining Willingness to Pay for Wetland Conservation: The Case of the Nariva Swamp in Trinidad and Tobago

The Nariva Swamp is the largest wetland in the eastern Caribbean, and is situated along the eastern coast of Trinidad. It is the habitat of a diverse array of plants and animals including the Anaconda (Eunectes murinus) and the endangered Manatee (Trichechus manatus). Several human communities surround Nariva Swamp. These activities, from agriculture to the clandestine cultivation of illegal crops have caused the Nariva Swamp to have experienced tremendous changes to its ecology and hydrology. Several studies have been conducted to estimate the WTP of the population of Trinidad and Tobago to conserve the Nariva Swamp. However the factors determining the WTP of the population remain largely unexplained. This study was therefore conducted in an effort to understand the factors that would contribute to the willingness to pay for the conservation of the swamp, and to add to the body of knowledge that exists on the subject of WTP for conservation in developing countries. An open-ended bid question on the maximum WTP was presented to a representative sample of households in Trinidad and responses regressed against ten independent household and choice variables. The results showed that only three choice attributes variables were significant in determining WTP. These were variables scoring the importance of future, bequest and existence values.