Bridging watershed conservation preferences: A multi-basin comparative study of willingness to pay for watershed services among farming communities in India and Sri Lanka

Abstract

Watersheds play a major role in ensuring human well-being, while conserving ecosystems. Due to extreme changes in climate and human interference, watersheds remain significantly threatened. Current study aimed to compare the preferences and Willingness to Pay (WTP) of two farmer communities in South Asia

India and Sri Lanka for conserving watershed services, employing a Contingent Valuation Model (CVM). Bargi catchment area in the Jabalpur District of Madhya Pradesh state, India and the Upper Mahaweli watershed’s Knuckles mountain range in Sri Lanka were selected as the study areas. A pre-tested interviewer administered structured questionnaire was administered for primary data collection from a total of 600 farmers residing in the study areas. Binary Logistic Regression (BLR) was used for statistical analysis. The findings revealed that in case of the Indian farmers, secondary education (r = 0.482, P < 0.038) gross monthly income below Rs 20,000 (coefficient [r]=0.581, P = 0.039), being a female household head (r = 0.041, P = 0.046) and awareness of ecosystem services (r = 0.561, P = 0.032) and awareness on sustainable farming practices (r = 0.332, P = 0.043) emerged as significant driving factors influencing the community’s preferences and payment for conservation among the Indian farmers. For the Sri Lankan counterpart, significant factors influencing WTP were being a farmer age over 50 years (r = 5.930, P < 0.066), the bid (r = 0.004, P < 0.001), land area (r = 5.621, P = 0.039) and the awareness of ecosystem services (r = 17.717, P = 0.003). Sri Lankan farmers were willing to contribute by USD 4.47 year/household, while Indian farmers preferred to pay USD 6.23 year/household for conservation of watershed services. The findings underscore the importance of context-specific, tailored watershed management policies that align with local priorities to encourage community-based watershed conservation efforts. © 2026 The Authors.