The shared knowledge behind payment for rural ecosystem services: a case study

摘要

This paper investigates the shared knowledge held by a rural population of the ecosystem services supplied by rural landscapes and woods in the Rome Province of Italy. It is part of a wider research initiative conducted to estimate the non-use values of the same ecosystem services elicited through the contingent valuation method. Our findings demonstrate that: (ⅰ) most of the information on ecosystem services comes from a deep-seated community shared knowledge; (ⅱ) some gaps exist between official (scientificormative) and shared knowledge in the study site; and (ⅲ) stated economic preferences are driven by both consequential motivations, as predicted by the standard economic model, as well as some others. Making explicit the motivational framework behind environmental economic estimates allows one to represent the socio-cultural legacy indispensable for providing a monetary value useful to inform public decision and policies. The use of this approach could contribute to the development of payment for ecosystem services schemes in rural policies affecting common goods.