Incorporating Uncertainty and Cero Values into the Valuation of Protected Areas and Species

Under the Spanish conservation law, compensation is envisaged for the damage associated with all actions that reduce the quantity or quality of protected areas and species. This paper provides a tool to evaluate the monetary equivalent of this damage. We conduct a contingent valuation exercise to estimate the existence value related to protected areas and species in Aragon. This estimate is then reconsidered including the possibility of zero bids and also the possibility of uncertain preferences for non-familiar goods. Considering these two effects, mean values are reduced significantly giving support to previous recommendations of dividing by two contingent valuation estimates from dichotomous choice question formats.