This paper presents a joint estimation of willingness to pay for conservation activities aimed to preserve the flow of ecosystem services provided by a marine protected area network and respondents´ personal discount rate using a contingent valuation survey. It contributes to the literature on identifying people´s discount rates moving beyond the use of the exponential schemes, to include a hyperbolic discount rate through variations in the timing and duration of the provision of public goods.

This paper explores the debate on participatory approach by presenting evidence from the local communities practices living within the marine protected area in Tanzania (Mnazi Bay Ruvuma-Estuary Marine Park). Five out of fifteen villages that exist in Mnazi Bay Marine Park were selected for this study after consultation with the park authority. Stratified sampling of villages was conducted based on the location from the Indian Ocean: three villages located close to the sea (sea front villages) and two villages located far from the sea (inland villages).

Although Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are an increasingly popular policy tool for protecting marine stocks and biodiversity, they pose high costs for small-scale fisherfolk in poor countries.

This paper  investigates how different levels of entrance fees affect donations for a public good, a natural park.