Accounting for spatially heterogeneous preferences while managing invasive species: a choice experiment

Invasive species are causing tremendous impacts to ecosystems, economic activities and human welfare. Efficient management of a biological invasion requires to model these impacts, and to measure individuals’ preferences for possible management plans. In this paper, we provide the first estimates of spatially differentiated preferences regarding the impacts of an invasive species. We use a spatially explicit discrete choice experiment to value the willingness to pay to reduce the invasion from an amphibious plant, the Primrose willow, in a French regional park. Our results show that the willingness to pay to reduce drastically the invasion is significant and strongly spatially differentiated, ranging from approximately 5 to 26 euros per household per year depending on the considered spatial zone. Ignoring this spatial aspect of preferences would dampen the benefits of management.