Public preferences for different natural hazard management approaches and Nature's Contributions to People: Evidence from a discrete choice experiment

Due to climate change, natural hazards are expected to become more frequent and intense. Swiss Alpine watersheds are heavily engineered with check dams to control these natural hazards. However, this management approach has failed to balance protection with ecosystem resilience, requires high maintenance and investment costs, and relies on infrastructure that is often nearing the end of its life. Therefore, alternative management strategies need to be developed. To this end, eliciting and understanding public preferences, as well as perceptions of natural hazard management can inform the development of alternative strategies. Thus, this study aims to elicit public preferences and willingness-to-pay for various natural hazard risk management approaches and relevant Nature’s Contributions to People through a discrete choice experiment (DCE) survey. The attributes of the DCE represent alternative protection infrastructures and locally relevant Nature’s Contributions to People. The levels are based on the provision levels of Nature's Contributions to People and economic modelling of alternative protection infrastructures costs. We conduct a DCE survey among the local population of three case study regions in the Swiss Alps, which have different levels of natural hazard risk. The DCE is one module within a broader survey on the relationship with the region (e.g., sense of belonging), environmental attitudes, and risk perceptions. It aims to provide policy-relevant evidence and inform natural hazard management policy options and strategies.