Citizens' preferences for ecosystem services provided by urban forests in Beijing, China

Abstract

Rapid urbanization creates tremendous pressure on the natural environment. It also causes many ecological problems, especially in a city and its surrounding areas. Developing urban forest is considered an important strategy for promoting sustainable urban development. In other words, urban forests play a very significant role in urban ecosystems. They provide a variety of important ecosystem services (hereafter referred to as ESs) for people. These include carbon sequestration, air quality improvement, water storage, recreation and aesthetic services. Although the role of urban forests in ecological environment construction is of great significance, the urban forest per capita in Beijing is limited and cannot meet public needs. Policy options to meet various public needs, improve distribution and supply of ecosystem services, and minimize the conflict between policy makers and ecosystem beneficiaries by analyzing public preferences of urban forests in terms of various ecosystem services are necessary. This study aims to the Beijing citizens preferences over various options of urban forest management strategies. The literature review and expert Delphi method were employed to rank the importance of 18 ecosystem services and to classify the ecosystem services of urban forests into 6 categories: (1) fresh water, (2) noise reduction, (3) moderation of extreme events, (4) air quality regulation, (5) species diversity and wildlife habitat, and (6) recreation and spiritual experience. The main choice experiment survey was conducted in October 2017 and a total of 483 valid questionnaires were analyzed. The subjects of this experiment were citizens older than 19 years old, have lived in Beijing for more than 1 year and have visited any one of the urban forests located in Beijing more than once during 2016. The results are as follows: Firstly, the air quality regulation ES is considered as the most influential service for Beijing citizens in terms of their choice of urban forest. Beijing citizens were willing to pay 85 RMB/year and 264 RMB/year to invest in urban forest expansion for improving air quality from low to middle and from middle to high, respectively. In addition, Beijing citizens regarded the fresh water ES as the second-most important ES. Secondly, citizens with a high monthly household income are more willing to pay for urban forest ESs. Thirdly, apartment owners are willing to pay municipality tax as compared to non-apartment owners. Fourthly, citizens emotionally connected to Beijing tend to have willingness to pay more of municipality tax. The results indicate that citizens are willing to pay a tax that can support urban forestry for air quality improvement. This research suggests for urban environmental policy makers in Beijing to pay more attention to air quality regulation function of forests. It is also recommended to design and manage urban forests to satisfy its visitors.