Residents' willingness-to-pay for watershed conservation program facilitating ecosystem services in Begnas watershed, Nepal

Residents' willingness-to-pay for watershed conservation plays a crucial role in developing sustainable market-based ecological protection strategies. The main objective of this study was to assess local residents' willingness-to-pay for the protection and conservation of the Begnas watershed ecosystem services, which was estimated using a contingent valuation method. Particularly, the study assessed the factors that affect the residents' willingness-to-pay using the Heckit model generating knowledge crucial to design watershed conservation programs and market-based protection strategies. The total willingness-to-pay was worth of $203,598.15 year(-1), and the average annual willingness-to-pay of a household (US$ 33.95) indicated the high importance of Begnas watershed conservation. Likewise, the results from econometric modeling showed a positive relationship between factors, namely gender (male resident), household size, education level, occupation (tourism and agriculture), income, and landholding size with the residents' decision to pay for the watershed conservation. These findings imply that a public-funded watershed conservation program is feasible in the Begnas watershed. Further, local resident participation in the program is seen increased because of the potential improvement in watershed ecosystem services, which are directly related to their livelihoods.