Estimating the non-market benefits of climate change adaptation of river ecosystem services: A choice experiment application in the Aoos basin, Greece

Mountains are important global reservoirs of water resources. However they are highly vulnerable to climate change as limited alterations in temperature and precipitation may cause harmful effects to water systems. Southern Europe and especially Greece are expected to undergo a drought trend over the next decades, resulting in less recharge for the aquifers and water services reduction. Thus, climate change may distort both natural and socioeconomic characteristics of freshwater ecosystem services deteriorating the general social welfare related to them. This paper examines the economic impacts of climate change on river uses of the Aoos basin in Greece. In this regard, a choice experiment is conducted to estimate the value changes in different ecological and economic services in a mountain community. The econometric simulations using conditional logit, random parameters logit and latent class models reveal that despite existing preference heterogeneity, respondents on average derive positive and significant welfare effects from climate change adaptation measures. The findings of the survey may assist in adaptation planning for the Aoos River basin, with possible extensions to other river systems enduring similar climate change indications. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.