Evaluating rural participation in wetland management: a contingent valuation analysis of the set-aside policy in Iran

Growing conditions of water scarcity and population growth necessitate measures for improvedwater availability to meet agricultural, industrial, and domestic and consumer water demands;generating new environmental pressures on wetlands and other aquatic ecosystems. In Iran, the“set-aside program” incentivizes farmer participation in wetland conservation throughmandated land management practices, making them key stakeholders in environmentalconservation action. This study explores attitudes to participation in the set-aside wetlandconservation program to revive the Jazmurian wetland in Iran, using a random sample of 226farmer-stakeholder respondents. Farmers were surveyed to investigate economic and socialparticipation using a willingness to accept (WTA) and willingness to pay (in money per ha)(WTP) model. Results show strong (45%) respondent opposition to wetland conservationparticipation. On the basis of their WTA, the amount of compensation offered by the villagerswas significantly affected by “the cultivated area”, “gender”, “education”, “family size”,“residency”, “income”, “moralism”, and “Inverse Mills Ratio index” factors. Also, “thecultivated area”, “age”, “education”, “marital status”, “family size”, and “income” were foundto be significantly affecting their WTP. We argue firstly, that policies to improve wetlandconservation must join together infrastructure and agricultural development planning – suchthat dam projects, agricultural and water conservation planning are better integrated acrosswetland catchments. Secondly, that wetland conservation participation will be improvedthrough land consolidation agreements for small-holders, and through incomes stabilisation,capacity building, social learning and awareness-raising initiatives for farmers towardssustainable agricultural practices