valuation, survey to adopt

[carol]

I am trying to get how much the ecosystem services are valued by local communities surrounding a mountain range. and i want some opinions on what method is best to adopt.

 

Contingent valuation method would ask respondents directly on how much they are willing to pay for an ecosystem service.

 

Contingent ranking would make them rank the ecosystem services including a good with a money price for threshold according to preference.

 

The communities might have some people who can't read nor write so i might conduct an interview or explain the questionnaire to them.

 

I think the first method is more susceptible to biases. However, the second method would require a good with a money price for threshold. and i can't think of any that wouldn't affect how they would prefer it (e.g. i would prefer a car than a farm land because i can use it or i prefer a farm land than a car because there are no roads in our area).

[vampares]

There is what's left of a farm in my back yard. The owners breed horses. There is intrest in converting the farm to accommodate more horses (all I know about the person is that she was sick).

 

Obviously we do not want more than two or three horses in our back yard. A large steel building would be an eyesore. This would devalue our property considerably, as it benefits from being the property that sits in the view of the farm from the road.

 

What is best, is for us is to exercise precedence the deed restrictions afford us. We stand to gain nothing by someone else's frivolous undertakings. Even if by survey we do seem to entertain the idea, we will expect to be compensated for the devaluation. Allowing such a thing could even cause issues with the mortgage.

 

At one point there was a plan laid out. From that plan other plans were permitted (this wasn't one of them).

 

Having a plan is not a bad thing. In fact I'd encourage it. A strong plan in fact. It should take the other existing plans into consideration -- not just for this community but for the other communities that are served by it.

 

Ask them what would appreciate their property. This will lead to success. Even if they don't use the services they are benefited enough to where they can relocate.

 

And of course they can't tell you anything they don't know, so it is best to consult with two or three people who know about these things, not just those who draw up the plan.