Willingness to Pay for Whale Shark Conservation in Sorsogon, Philippines

Societies continually make choices among various options that affect their welfare. Tradeoffs are typically difficult to make especially in a developing country context where even the basic needs are sometimes hard to finance. It then becomes an empirical question whether people from a developing country perceive any benefit from what can be considered as a non-essential good like the preservation of certain endangered species and would therefore be willing to sacrifice certain things for it. Using contingent valuation methodology (CVM), this paper sets out to determine if such benefit for whale shark preservation exists for developing country citizens, or if they are too poor to pay for conservation. The study was carried out in Sorsogon province where whale sharks are popularly known; the area is touted worldwide as having the largest congregation of the species during peak season. Various multivariate logit regression analyses were done to generate sensitivity analysis of the estimates prior to the welfare value calculation. Sensitivity to payment designs was also tested through hypothesis testing. Survey results show that the people are aware and concerned about environmental issues, including the precarious condition of whale sharks in Sorsogon. They are not, however, able or willing to pay for the implementation of the Conservation Program because poverty, employment, and other economic concerns take precedence over environmental issues. Detailed observance of the entire CV exercise generated zero or close to zero welfare value.