La valoración económica de los servicios de los ecosistemas se ha convertido en una herramienta valiosa para promover la conservación y la gestión sostenible de la tierra. Este estudio informa de los resultados de un experimento utilizado para analizar las preferencias de la población local y la disposición a pagar por servicios ecosistémicos seleccionados resultantes de diferentes escenarios de gestión en la Reserva de la Biosfera de Urdaibai (Vizcaya, España).

Economic valuation of ecosystem services has emerged as a valuable tool to promote conservation and sustainable land management. Our study adds to this literature, by reporting the results of a discrete choice experiment used to analyse local population preferences and willingness-to-pay for selected ecosystem services resulting from different management scenarios in the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve (Biscay, Spain). The ecosystem services considered include quality of water bodies, agricultural production, native forest protection, biodiversity, and recreation. The results indicate that the local population is willing to financially support a new management plan focused on theimprovement of ecosystem health and landscape multifunctionality and sustainability, with recreation being the least valued ecosystem service. These findings may be used to inform conservation and management policies to maximize social well-being. They can also help to prioritize investments and allocation of funding and hence minimise land use conflicts.