IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i21p12077-d670031.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Valuing User Preferences for Geospatial Fire Monitoring in Guatemala

Author

Listed:
  • Jared Berenter

    (Uxeda Data Collection Resources LLC, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA)

  • Isaac Morrison

    (Uxeda Data Collection Resources LLC, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA)

  • Julie M. Mueller

    (School of Earth and Sustainability, The W.A. Franke College of Business, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA)

Abstract

Like many landscapes across Central America, forests in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR) are increasingly susceptible to forest fire, with most forest fires resulting from untended agricultural fires. Fire damage poses significant risk to the MBR’s natural resources and cultural heritage, but budget challenges limit the capacity of national, regional, and local institutions to effectively detect, monitor, and control forest fires. The Geospatial Information System for Fire Management (SIGMA-I) is a United States government-subsidized suite of geospatial fire management tools that are widely disseminated, free of charge, to land managers and other users in Guatemala for on-the-ground fire prevention and response. Provision of SIGMA-I geospatial data and tools such as daily thermal “hotspot” maps provide positive benefits for sustainable fire management. However, little research exists supporting the nonmarket monetary value of geospatial fire monitoring tools and their component features. We used a choice experiment to estimate land managers’ willingness to pay for individual attributes of SIGMA-I hotspot mapping in Guatemala. We found quantitative evidence of positive willingness to pay for geospatial data, demonstrating positive nonmarket value of geospatial data for sustainable fire management in developing countries and regions where agricultural fires are common. Our results indicate strong preferences from Guatemala’s forest fire management community for improving the frequency of hotspot reporting and reducing detection of erroneous hotspots. As the availability of geospatial data increases, use of tools like SIGMA-I has the potential to significantly improve fire management, especially in regions where funding and resources for fire management are scarce. Our results support continued multinational funding for tools like SIGMA-I for forest fire management in Guatemala and other developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Jared Berenter & Isaac Morrison & Julie M. Mueller, 2021. "Valuing User Preferences for Geospatial Fire Monitoring in Guatemala," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-14, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:12077-:d:670031
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/12077/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/12077/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hoyos, David, 2010. "The state of the art of environmental valuation with discrete choice experiments," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 1595-1603, June.
    2. Nick Hanley & Susana Mourato & Robert E. Wright, 2001. "Choice Modelling Approaches: A Superior Alternative for Environmental Valuatioin?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(3), pages 435-462, July.
    3. Louviere,Jordan J. & Hensher,David A. & Swait,Joffre D. With contributions by-Name:Adamowicz,Wiktor, 2000. "Stated Choice Methods," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521788304.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. de Ayala, Amaia & Hoyos, David & Mariel, Petr, 2015. "Suitability of discrete choice experiments for landscape management under the European Landscape Convention," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 79-96.
    2. Barr, Rhona F. & Mourato, Susana, 2014. "Investigating fishers' preferences for the design of marine Payments for Environmental Services schemes," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 91-103.
    3. Richard T. Carson & Miko_aj Czajkowski, 2014. "The discrete choice experiment approach to environmental contingent valuation," Chapters, in: Stephane Hess & Andrew Daly (ed.), Handbook of Choice Modelling, chapter 9, pages 202-235, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Araña, Jorge E. & León, Carmelo J., 2013. "Dynamic hypothetical bias in discrete choice experiments: Evidence from measuring the impact of corporate social responsibility on consumers demand," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 53-61.
    5. Alemu I, Jahson Berhane & Schuhmann, Peter & Agard, John, 2019. "Mixed preferences for lionfish encounters on reefs in Tobago: Results from a choice experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Hoyos, David & Mariel, Petr & Pascual, Unai & Etxano, Iker, 2012. "Valuing a Natura 2000 network site to inform land use options using a discrete choice experiment: An illustration from the Basque Country," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 329-344.
    7. Gebreegziabher, Z. & Mekonnen, A. & Beyene, A.D. & Hagos, F., 2018. "Valuation of access to irrigation water in rural Ethiopia: application of choice experiment and contingent valuation methods," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277168, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Zander, Kerstin K. & Signorello, Giovanni & De Salvo, Maria & Gandini, Gustavo & Drucker, Adam G., 2013. "Assessing the total economic value of threatened livestock breeds in Italy: Implications for conservation policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 219-229.
    9. Sahan T. M. Dissanayake & Amy W. Ando, 2014. "Valuing Grassland Restoration: Proximity to Substitutes and Trade-offs among Conservation Attributes," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 90(2), pages 237-259.
    10. Castillo-Eguskitza, Nekane & Hoyos, David & Onaindia, Miren & Czajkowski, Mikolaj, 2019. "Unraveling local preferences and willingness to pay for different management scenarios: A choice experiment to biosphere reserve management," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    11. Ahmed Seid Hassen, 2016. "Consumers' Willingness to Pay for Environmental Attributes of a Cut Flower in Ethiopia: A Choice Experiment Approach," Yildiz Social Science Review, Yildiz Technical University, vol. 2(1), pages 31-46.
    12. Lee, Deborah E. & Du Preez, Mario, 2016. "Determining visitor preferences for rhinoceros conservation management at private, ecotourism game reserves in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa: A choice modeling experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 106-116.
    13. Rhona Barr & Susana Mourato, 2012. "Investigating fishers� preferences for the design of marine Payments for Environmental Services schemes," GRI Working Papers 101, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    14. Chinedu, Obi & Sanou, Edouard & Tur-Cardona, Juan & Bartolini, Fabio & Gheysen, Godelieve & Speelman, Stijn, 2018. "Farmers’ valuation of transgenic biofortified sorghum for nutritional improvement in Burkina Faso: A latent class approach," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 132-140.
    15. Francisco Guijarro & Prodromos Tsinaslanidis, 2020. "Analysis of Academic Literature on Environmental Valuation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-14, March.
    16. Gill, David A. & Schuhmann, Peter W. & Oxenford, Hazel A., 2015. "Recreational diver preferences for reef fish attributes: Economic implications of future change," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 48-57.
    17. Jan Vanstockem & Liesbet Vranken & Brent Bleys & Ben Somers & Martin Hermy, 2018. "Do Looks Matter? A Case Study on Extensive Green Roofs Using Discrete Choice Experiments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-15, January.
    18. Ajayi, V. & Reiner, D., 2020. "Consumer Willingness to Pay for Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Green Plastics," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 20110, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    19. Marta Meleddu, 2016. "Repeating discrete choice experiments to estimate public preferences in a case of costal land use policy," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2016(1), pages 47-72.
    20. Pierre-Alexandre Mahieu & Henrik Andersson & Olivier Beaumais & Romain Crastes & François-Charles Wolff, 2014. "Is Choice Experiment Becoming more Popular than Contingent Valuation? A Systematic Review in Agriculture, Environment and Health," Working Papers 2014.12, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:12077-:d:670031. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.