Valentina Ofori, Patrick Lloyd-Smith, Ken Belcher, Peter Boxall
{"title":"Economic Feasibility of a Wetland Certification Program in the Canadian Prairies","authors":"Valentina Ofori, Patrick Lloyd-Smith, Ken Belcher, Peter Boxall","doi":"10.1007/s00267-025-02150-0","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper assesses the economic feasibility of a novel market-based instrument for wetland conservation—a certification scheme for agricultural products. Using a stated preference survey involving wheat flour purchase decisions, we estimate that consumers are willing to pay 25%–29% more for wheat flour produced on fields with restored wetlands. These consumer price premiums translate to a 11%-12% increase in the prices received by producers after accounting for supply chain costs. Producer benefits of adopting the wetland certification scheme generally outweigh the wetland restoration costs for a typical Saskatchewan field, but the change in profits is minimal. The results suggest that this voluntary wetland certification scheme may be a useful addition to the wetland conservation policy toolbox, but will face barriers to producer adoption.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":543,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Management","volume":"75 6","pages":"1460 - 1471"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Environmental Management","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00267-025-02150-0","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This paper assesses the economic feasibility of a novel market-based instrument for wetland conservation—a certification scheme for agricultural products. Using a stated preference survey involving wheat flour purchase decisions, we estimate that consumers are willing to pay 25%–29% more for wheat flour produced on fields with restored wetlands. These consumer price premiums translate to a 11%-12% increase in the prices received by producers after accounting for supply chain costs. Producer benefits of adopting the wetland certification scheme generally outweigh the wetland restoration costs for a typical Saskatchewan field, but the change in profits is minimal. The results suggest that this voluntary wetland certification scheme may be a useful addition to the wetland conservation policy toolbox, but will face barriers to producer adoption.
期刊介绍:
Environmental Management offers research and opinions on use and conservation of natural resources, protection of habitats and control of hazards, spanning the field of environmental management without regard to traditional disciplinary boundaries. The journal aims to improve communication, making ideas and results from any field available to practitioners from other backgrounds. Contributions are drawn from biology, botany, chemistry, climatology, ecology, ecological economics, environmental engineering, fisheries, environmental law, forest sciences, geosciences, information science, public affairs, public health, toxicology, zoology and more.
As the principal user of nature, humanity is responsible for ensuring that its environmental impacts are benign rather than catastrophic. Environmental Management presents the work of academic researchers and professionals outside universities, including those in business, government, research establishments, and public interest groups, presenting a wide spectrum of viewpoints and approaches.