Economic value of river conservation in four countries

Ecosystems and biodiversity produce benefits to society, but many of them are hard to quantify. For example, it is unclear whether European societies gain (non-market) benefits from experiencing rivers that are in a good... [ view full abstract ]

Ecosystems and biodiversity produce benefits to society, but many of them are hard to quantify. For example, it is unclear whether European societies gain (non-market) benefits from experiencing rivers that are in a good ecological status. Without such knowledge, investments of scarce resources into ecological river restoration programs are difficult to justify. The objective of this study was to reveal how the public of different European countries perceive and value ecological characteristics of domestic rivers and their potential improvements as long-term outcomes of hypothetical river basin management plans designed to improve river ecosystems according to the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). To that end, we conducted a web-based discrete choice experiment among the general populations in two pairs of biogeographically similar countries (Norway and Sweden vs. Germany and France; n=1,000 per country). We found that non-biological river attributes (increased accessibility of the river banks, improved bathing water quality, decreased river fragmentation due to dams) increased river utility in these countries as indicated by positive willingness-to-pay (WTP). By contrast, the fish species occurring in a river contributed differently to a river's utility in each of the countries. Native species, particularly salmonids, were preferred in Germany, Norway and Sweden, while non-native salmonids also generated utility in Scandinavia. The abundance of a particular species and the degree of native biodiversity additionally increased the benefits derived from domestic rivers. Hypothetical river development scenarios focussing on fisheries for native salmonids and on ecosystem conservation produced societal benefits in all four countries, although Scandinavians benefitted more than the French and German citizens. A scenario focusing on hydroelectricity production generated the lowest utility in all countries. Our results show that ecological river restoration produces societal benefits in the four European countries, though more through managing non-biological river attributes than through restoring species or conserving river biodiversity.