Valuation of River Ecosystem Services by Rural Communities in the Colombian Orinoquia: A Volunteer Labor-for-Restoration Choice Experiment

Abstract

Rice cultivation is highly water-intensive and alters both ecosystems and rural livelihoods. This study evaluates the willingness to contribute (WTC), measured in hours of volunteer labor, to restore ecosystem services in the Tocaría River (Casanare, Colombia), which has been affected by extensive rice cultivation. We surveyed 107 rural residents using a choice experiment with a labor-based payment vehicle and estimated preferences with a mixed logit model. Respondents expressed strong support for restoration, with WTCs of 17 hours/month for improving water quality, 11.7 hours/month for water availability, and 14.4 hours/month for expanding riparian vegetation. Crucially, participants preferred that civil society organizations manage restoration efforts, rather than government agencies or agribusiness. Additionally, based on the cost of paying the equivalent of this labor, the monthly economic loss caused by the degradation of the Tocaría River’s ecosystem services was estimated at $84,510 USD. These findings highlight rural communities’ willingness to actively engage in river restoration, offering labor as payment, and underscore the importance of participatory institutional arrangements in future watershed governance.