Bridging the divide: reconciling stakeholder values for payment for ecosystem services.

A framework for sustainable management in Batticaloa Lagoon, Sri Lanka

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6093/1970-9870/12627

Keywords:

Lagoon, Ecosystem, Resources, Land use, Willingness to accept, Willingness to pay

Abstract

Coastal lagoons are vital and productive ecosystems globally. However, recent anthropogenic pressures have substantially degraded these environments. The sustainability of lagoon resources critically depends on stakeholder engagement. Employing a choice experiment, this study quantifies the divergent preferences of key stakeholder groups–fishermen, tourists, and flood-affected residents–for preservation versus degradation scenarios in Sri Lanka's Batticaloa Lagoon. The survey targeted stakeholders using stratified sampling and reached 405 participants in the Batticaloa Lagoon Watershed (BLW). The analysis further assessed local perceptions of degradation and stakeholders' compensation expectations (WTA). The Choice Experiment and multinomial logit model identified significant conflicts between conservation valuations and compensation expectations. This novel empirical application directly compares within-subject Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) and WTA measures, revealing significant valuation asymmetries that complicate Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) design. These results provide empirical evidence of pronounced preference diversity among lagoon users in the study area. This study argues that management decisions must account for heterogeneous stakeholder valuations, rather than universal conservation ideals. The findings demonstrate the inevitability of one-size-fits-all PES policy failure and propose a differentiated PES framework with tailored incentives for fishermen, tourists, and flood-affected residents.

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Author Biographies

Partheepan Kulasegaram, United Nations Development Programme, Batticaloa

PhD student at the Faculty of Technology, South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, is an experienced development professional with over 16 years of involvement with the United Nations. He has dedicated his career to supporting crisis recovery efforts in the North and East provinces of Sri Lanka. Partheepan is actively engaged in research within the fields of Geoinformatics, Climate Change, and Environmental Science. He holds an MSc in Geoinformatics from the Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture at the University of Peradeniya. Furthermore, he completed his bachelor's degree at the Eastern University of Sri Lanka.

Muneeb M. Musthafa, Department of Biosystems Technology, Faculty of Technology, Southeastern University of Sri Lanka

He is a senior lecturer and head of Biosystems Technology, Faculty of Technology, South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka. He has been an active researcher in the field of ecology, biodiversity, conservation, environmental science and animal science. He has completed PhD from the University of Malaya, Malaysia under the International Graduate Research Scholarship, where he carried out his research on beetle diversity in a montane ecosystem of Malaysia. He has completed his bachelor’s degree from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka and his MSc in Animal Science from King Saud University, Saudi Arabia under scholarship, where he has worked on a number of projects related to genetic diversity of goat and sheep of Saudi Arabia. Then he extended his research expertise at China (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing) on fecundity gene and Ege University, Turkey. So far, he has produced more than 50 peer-reviewed, indexed journal research articles, while participating in a number of international conferences. He is a member of a number of international societies and recently became the chief editor of a new journal called Sri Lankan Journal Technology. He has contributed immensely to establishing postgraduate research degree programs at the Faculty of Technology, South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka. Recently he is working on microplastic pollution in marine ecosystems in collaboration with the Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), UK.

Thangamani Bhavan, Department of Economics, Faculty of Commerce & Management, Eastern University, Vantharumoolai

He is a Professor in Economics, attached to the Department of Economics, Faculty of Commerce and Management, Eastern University, Sri Lanka. He received his PhD in Western Economics at the School of Economics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and his MSc in Agricultural Economics at the Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya. His teaching and research interests are in the area of international financial flows, Trade, and Environmental Resource Management.

Beniamino Murgante, School of Engineering, University of Basilicata

He is a Professor of spatial planning at the School of Engineering of the University of Basilicata. He took his Ph.D. in “Sciences and Methods for European Cities and Territory” at the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Pisa, and he carried out other research in Lyon at the Laboratory for Information System Engineering directed by Robert Laurini. Director of Laboratory of Urban and Territorial Systems at the University of Basilicata. Coordinator of undergraduate and postgraduate Civil and Environmental Engineering curriculums at the University of Basilicata. Member of the Editorial Board of many international journals, scientific committees of a lot of national and international conferences, and the scientific council of some national and international organizations. Editor of the “Sustainable Communities” journal, Taylor & Francis. Co-program Committee Chair of the International Conference on Computational Science and Its Applications (ICCSA).

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Published

25-11-2025

How to Cite

Kulasegaram, P., Musthafa, M. M., Bhavan, T., & Murgante, B. (2025). Bridging the divide: reconciling stakeholder values for payment for ecosystem services. : A framework for sustainable management in Batticaloa Lagoon, Sri Lanka. TeMA - Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment, (2), 47–66. https://doi.org/10.6093/1970-9870/12627

Issue

No. 2 (2025): Climate crisis and spatial planning. Green infrastructure and supply of ecosystem services

Section

SI 2.2025 Climate crisis and spatial planning

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Copyright (c) 2025 Partheepan Kulasegaram, Muneeb M. Musthafa, Thangamani Bhavan, Beniamino Murgante

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