Stakeholder preferences towards conservation versus development for a wetland in Sri Lanka.
In determining the importance of criteria in the management of wetlands, two key issues arise: that is whether they should be conserved for environmental benefits, or whether they should be used for development activities. This is indeed the conflict faced in many natural resource management problems. This paper considers the development of stakeholder preferences in a region in Sri Lanka for representative criteria based on defined objectives for wetland management. Data were obtained spatially from a paired comparison based survey using the analytic hierarchy process to investigate the importance attached to the criteria by stakeholders who live and work in the wetland region. Distinct groups showing different concerns towards importance of objectives are shown to exist over the whole area and spatially. However, the consensus view of favouring conservation of the environment is indicated by 80% of the sample.
Centre for the Economics and Management of Aquatic Resources (CEMARE), University of Portsmouth, Boathouse 6, College Road, HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, Hants PO1 3LJ, UK. p.wattage@port.ac.uk
Premachandra
P
Wattage
Simon
S
Mardle
D044822:Biodiversity; D003256:Community Participation; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods*; D003625:Data Collection; D003657:Decision Making; D017753:Ecosystem; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013188:Sri Lanka