Estimating the public benefits of mitigating damages caused by invasive plant species in a subsistence economy

This paper presents analysis of a choice experiment (CE) designed to estimate willingness-topay (WTP) to mitigate damages caused by invasive plant species (IPS) in a rural community of Nepal. In order to address the cash constraints problem in a subsistence economy, two payment attributes, labor contribution and membership fee, were included in the choice sets. The results reveal that rural farmers have significant WTP for forest management activities, in terms of both cash and labor contributions. The results also suggest that rural farmers value their time in this context at a different rate to the current wage rate.