Revealing the willingness-to-pay for river restoration in China: a meta-analysis

Rivers are important ecological and recreational resources, but in China, they are facing increasingly severe environmental degradation due to industrialization and urbanization. River restoration enhances river health and functionality through ecological, hydrological, and recreational improvements. These restoration projects are fundamental for environmental quality protection and ecosystem degradation mitigation. Evaluating resident’s willingness to pay (WTP) enables economic valuation of environmental benefits, informing both cost–benefit analyses and policy decisions for restoration initiatives. In recent years, the number of studies estimating the WTP for river restoration in China has increased, providing conditions for a meta-analysis. This study systematically analyzes the WTP of residents in various parts of China for river restoration using a meta-analysis approach, thereby elucidating the influence of different river and resident attributes on the WTP for river restoration. By integrating 71 WTP estimates for river restoration from 32 empirical studies, the meta-regression model investigates how river characteristics, respondent profiles, and study methods influence the WTP estimates for river restoration value. The meta-analysis reveals that water quality improvement, ecosystem protection, and recreational facilities significantly drive the WTP valuation for river restoration. Respondent’s income, education level, environmental awareness, and geographic location also influence their estimated WTP for river restoration. The findings highlight opportunities for policymakers to prioritize restoration efforts based on locally valued river attributes and develop targeted measures for different population groups across regions. The results provide a more widely applicable empirical basis for guiding sustainable governance and inclusive management strategies for river restoration in China.