Estimating Visitors' Willingness to Pay for Lake Conservation

Abstract

The ecosystem benefits associated with the lakes in an urban area may degrade because of recreational and other anthropogenic activities. Pashan Lake has been a victim of many human development and recreation activities presented in this study and therefore calls for serious restoration and its conservation and recommendations for urban local bodies. The ill-effects of poor management of the lake and health of lake were deliberated through the visitors' survey. The objective of the study is to determine the willingness of people to pay towards conservation of Pashan Lake and estimating visitors' WTP for the entrance fee to the lake using the contingent valuation method. The decision to introduce entry fees can be a measure to safeguard the Pashan Lake conservation and part of the management decisions. Proper management of the lake must be ensured to remove all the threats to the natural biodiversity of the lake and its ecosystem.