Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Willingness-To-Pay for Wetlands: A Case Study of Coastal Wetlands in Tampa Bay

This paper presents the first analysis of impacts of COVID-19 on willingness-to-pay for wetland restoration. Two potential effects were identified that may affect willingness-to-pay for wetland restoration and empirically tested using a referendum-style contingent valuation survey that was administered in the midst of the pandemic to measure willingness-to-pay for restoring mangroves and saltmarshes in Tampa Bay, Florida. Results indicate that willingness-to-pay was $2,791 per household during COVID, but it would have been $3,262 if there had not been COVID. These results imply a loss of $3.8 billion in the total value of restoring wetlands in the state of Florida.