Economic Feasibility of a Wetland Certification Program in the Canadian Prairies

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.