Valuing Biodiversity Conservation in Manu National Park: A Choice Experiment Case Study Conducted During the COVID-19 Pandemic

A groundbreaking study reveals that ecological functionality, such as species interaction networks, is the most influential factor in public preferences for biodiversity conservation in Peru's Manu National Park. Using a choice experiment conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic among 1,005 residents of Metropolitan Lima, researchers found that improvements in functional biodiversity attributes generated significantly higher willingness to pay (WTP) compared to traditional indicators like species counts or habitat loss. This suggests that functional ecological metrics may more effectively communicate complex biodiversity changes to urban populations, offering valuable insights for conservation policy. The study employed mixed logit and latent class models to account for respondent heterogeneity, though its findings are not nationally representative.

Dávila-García, J., & Orihuela, C. (2026). Valuing Biodiversity Conservation in Manu National Park: A Choice Experiment Case Study Conducted During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Case Studies in the Environment, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1525/cse.2026.2878067