Environmental Cost of Interfering With Nairobi National Park: an Application of Discrete Choice Experiment

Abstract

Nairobi National Park is a protected ecosystem where various types of wildlife find a home attracting over 278,000 tourists annually. The park has in the recent past experienced destruction through construction of a railway (called SGR) and a highway (called the southern bypass).These constructions reduce the ecosystem services of the park. This raises concern with the possibility of the perceived costs of these projects outweighing their benefits. This study sought to determine the environmental cost of interfering with Nairobi National Park using a discrete choice experiment. The study further examined the use and non use benefits associated with the park attributes. Attributes that were identified include, wildlife population and diversity of species, wildlife movement in dispersion and migration area, vegetation density and diversity, security of wildlife and people and environmental quality. In order to achieve these objectives, data was collected from 93 respondents, using survey questionnaires that had constructed choice sets from which respondents indicated their most preferred alternatives. A price attribute, in form of an increase in gate fee, was included to elicit WTP estimates. The study applied discrete choice experiment to examine peoples’ WTP for the restoration of the park attributes. It further examined the tradeoffs associated with respondents’ choice made over the specific park attributes. A multinomial logistic regression model was employed and marginal effects were derived and tested at 1 percent, 5 percent and 10 percent significance levels. Estimation results indicate that all the park attributes except security of wildlife and people significantly influenced the respondents’ WTP for the restoration of the park attributes. Further, 40.9 percent of the sampled respondents indicated a willingness to pay of up to Ksh 2500 as an increase in gate fee in order to restore the parks attributes. A number of socioeconomic and demographic variables were included and it was found that respondents aged between 36 years and 55 years were 16.4 percent more likely to pay expensively (up to Ksh 7500) for the restoration of park attributes. Based on the findings, the Kenyan government could adopt environmental valuation of its environmental resources before undertaking major development projects that alter ecosystem conditions. The application of discrete choice experiments could further enable policy makers to understand peoples’ preferences and opportunity costs that are associated with conservation and protection of environmental resources. This might provide a framework that will ensure optimal and sustainable use and management of critical environmental resources.