FUNDING has been provided to CTAHR for this research from the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Project HAW00136-M.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this research is to develop a framework using Conjoint Choice Experiment to estimate the benefits of invasive species control programs using Miconia as a case study. Specifically:

Objective 1: To design a Conjoint Choice Experiment for measuring the preference and Willingness to Pay (WTP) for invasive species control programs.
Objective 1.1: To identify potential economically and technically feasible Miconia programs (program attributes and their levels) through focus group meetings and pilot studies.
Objective 1.2: To design a CCE questionnaire.

Objective 2: To collect the CCE data using a face-to-face survey technique.

Objective 3: Using CCE data collected from objective 2 to estimate the public's preferences for each of the control programs. The result is expressed in a monetary measure, Willingness to Pay (WTP) which measures the public valuation of each control program.

Objective 4: To compare the WTP of the different control programs.

Objective 5: To disseminate the information to practitioner and decision makers.

APPROACH

Traditionally, researcher would use contingent valuation to measure the WTP which is based on what people say they would do, as opposed to what people are observed to do. However, the fact that the contingent valuation method is based on asking people questions, as opposed to observing their actual behavior, is the source of controversy. One of the recent developments in the literature to carry out more sophisticated analysis is to carry out Conjoint Choice Experiment (CCE). The CCE technique is based on the idea that any good can be described in terms of its attributes, or characteristics, and the levels that these attributes take. In our case, a control program for invasive species can be described in terms of its impacts and cost information (which is called attributes in CCE context). The potential outcomes (attributes) of an invasive species control program include species diversity, landscape, recreational facilities, and soil and groundwater pollution for example. Using CCE can tell us two things about non-market values: 1. Which attributes are significant determinants of the values people place on a specific invasive species control program. This information implies ranking or importance of each of the attributes and; 2. The economic value of an invasive species control program. There are three activities for this approach. Activity 1: Experimental Design of CCE for Miconia Activity. 2: Collect CCE Data for Miconia using Face-to-face Survey Technique. Activity 3: Analyze the data and estimate public's preferences for the control program

This study asks taxpayers throughout Hawaii using a willingness to pay survey regarding their willingness to support a control program for Miconia calvescens. Through a conjoint choice experiment the people's willingness to pay for a control program can be attained. By finding out people's willingness to pay for these control programs appropriate levels of support for funding these programs can be determined. Conjoint Choice Experiment (CCE) was used not only to discover what the public thinks is the total economic value of the environmental goods/programs, but also identifies importance contribution of each attribute to the control programs. This study examines what aspects of the Miconia control program the Hawaiian taxpayers would be willing to pay for as stated by their choices of the different control programs which are presented to them using the conjoint choice experiment (CCE) methodology. For our study there are four attributes: cost, spread, biodiversity loss and soil erosion. Their levels are: cost in terms of tax increases ($3, $5, and $7); spread (high, medium and low), biodiversity loss (10, 45 and 100 native species loss) and soil erosion (high, medium and low). The attributes and their levels are developed through extensive review of literature and discussions with invasive species specialists. Data collection was done using a face-to-face survey technique. The surveys were conducted at farmers markets in Oahu, Hawaii, Kauai and Maui counties. Respondents were given 12 pairs of programs with differing levels of attributes and asked to choose one from each pair. 350 surveys were completed from May-August 2006 with a survey response rate of 70%. The survey has also proven to be well representative of the population of Hawaii with demographic analysis showing age and income distributions comparable to that of the most recent Hawaii State Census. Moreover, after initial analysis the model has provided evidence that people are less likely to choose the programs with high spread, high soil erosion loss and high biodiversity loss. The project team had a very productive year. The first two objectives have been accomplished as stated in the timeline. The PI and particularly graduate students were able to attend conferences and communicate with experts some preliminary results of the public's view on controlling the spread of Miconia calvescens. In addition, a graduate student is working on her master's thesis and should be ready to defend her work by the end of the spring 2007 semester. The master's thesis is going to focus on the methodologies used which were Conjoint Choice Experiment and Contingent Valuation and their applications and uses. Moreover, other graduate students who worked on this project have had the opportunity to learn about and experience presenting papers at conferences, how to write abstracts for journal submissions and how to use the Sawtooth Software to perform data analysis. Additionally, practical experience gained from working on the project was instrumental in garnering a job for a former graduate student as an industry analyst in the Department of Energy in Washington D.C.

Through participating in conference presentations, direct knowledge transfer is about 50 people; however the conference attendees were over 100. The survey baseline is that about 30% of Hawaii population has heard of Miconia. It is expected over 50% of Hawaii population will have heard of Miconia in the next 2 years through the reports that will be published from this research. More people hear about the impact of Miconia then there will be more support for controlling the invasive plant. Grants Submitted Title: Integrating biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in a rapidly changing landscape in Southwestern China. Applicant: Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, The Chinese Academy of Sciences (PI is one of the collaborators) Funding Agency: European Union-China Biodiversity Program Date Submitted: September 2006 Grant Amount: $ 1.9 million Additionally, graduate students gained practical experience from working on the project. The experience was instrumental in garnering a job for a former graduate student as an industry analyst in the Department of Energy in Washington D.C.

PUBLICATIONS (not previously reported): 2005/10 TO 2006/09

1. Peer Reviewed Paper Chan-Halbrendt, C., Yang, F. Lin, T. Jin, Y and Thomas, L. 2007. Willingness to Pay for Controlling Miconia in Hawaii Using Conjoint Choice Experiment.Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics: Special Issue: Economics of Invasive Species in Tropical and Subtropical Regions. Submitted 2006.

2. Published Abstract Chan-Halbrendt, C.Hill,S.Washington, M. and Yang F. 2006. Willingness to Pay for Miconia Management Program. Hawaii Conservation Conference: Sustainability: Mauka to Makai. July, 2006. Abstract.

3. Chan-Halbrendt, C. and Yang, F. 2006. Valuation of Biodiversity Using Conjoint Choice Experiment: The Case of Miconia in Hawaii. Workshop on Sustainable Development and Biodiversity Conservation: Consequences of Land-Use Policy. Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. July 2006. Abstract.