Saving our streams : public willingness to participate in stream restoration in Finland

Abstract

Human actions have seriously changed global biodiversity, causing severe habitat degradation and loss of habitats and species. Ecological restoration is seen as a major tool to reverse this environmental change. Restoration projects might be easier to accomplish if the local communities and other beneficiaries could be more involved in the projects. In this thesis I studied the restoration of an urban brook, the valuations associated to streams and the ecosystem services the streams provide, and public willingness to participate, either by donating money or by doing voluntary work, in the restoration of their nearby watercourses. The work is based on an urban stream restoration project and three different primary contingent valuation (CV) studies conducted in three geographical areas in Finland. The results of this thesis showed that people in Finland are interested in their nearby environment. The most valued ecosystem services provided by the streams being among non-use values, such as the value of existence, quality of downstream waters, and the value of scenery. Local residents are also willing to share the responsibility and participate in the restoration of their nearby waters by contributing their time and money to restore them. Participation of local citizens and other stakeholders could be a valuable addition to the restoration of watercourses in Finland. Restoration projects might be easier to accomplish, if they were supported more by the local communities. Funding is often lacking in sparsely populated rural areas where populations of endangered species and other conservation values still exist. Knowledge of the intensity and preferred means of public participation can help allocating budget funding more efficiently and targeting it to the areas where public participation is scarce.