PREFERENCES AND WILLINGNESS OF THE POPULATION TO PAY FOR SERVICES RENDERED BY AGRICULTURE IN THE FIELD OF NATURE PROTECTION AND LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT

The consumers' preferences for certain agricultural landscapes and the willingness to pay for nature protection measures of agriculture were recorded within a consumer survey undertaken in Kiel (n = 533). A conjoint-analysis showed that an optimal landscape, from the consumers' point of view, should contain many biotope elements (small streches of water, field coppice, hedges), an average to high wood share and medium sized fields. Costs hardly matter. About 80 % of the population are of the opinion that farmers should receive a compensation, if they farm more extensively, i. e. with more regard for the environment. Average willingness to pay involved an extra price of 13-15 % for foodstuffs, with the main focus centering on 10 %. 55 % of the interviewees would be prepared to pay a tax for financing additional nature protection areas. Depending on the wording of the question, the average amount of the tax totalled 16-25 DM per month. As a rule, the stronger the concern about the environment and foodstuff pollution, the more positive the basic attitude towards agriculture and the higher the income, the higher is the degree of willingness to pay. All in all, a great majority of the population showed a positive basic attitude towards a support of agriculture and paying for the protection of nature and landscape conservation.