Browsing by Subject "taajamakosteikko"

Wetlands are one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. They provide numerous different ecosystem services and their importance has been acknowledged internationally. However, the number and extent of wetlands has continued decreasing globally and the increasing population poses threats on more and more wetlands. The Life+ Urban Oases project (fin. Keidas-hanke), that has made this Masters Thesis possible, has pursued to bring wetlands into urban areas, where the ecosystem services, such as flood control, which they provide can be utilized to compensate for challenges brought about by changes in land use. Urban wetlands provide local population recreational and relaxing green oases. Urban wetlands also provide natural system stormwater management mitigating water quality and habitats. It is predicted that climate change will increase severity of weather extremes. Especially the probability of heavy rainstorms is expected to increase in Finland which will emphasize better stormwater management. The value of ecosystem services provided by stormwater wetlands has not been previously measured in Finland. Furthermore, beliefs of people on constructed or created wetlands in general has been studied very little. This study had two objectives: 1) To evaluate the value of the ecosystem services of constructed urban and agricultural wetlands within the Municipality of Vihti. This was carried out within the Lake Enäjärvi watershed. 2) To study what are the attitudes, perceptions and beliefs of the Vihti residents towards constructed wetlands. The study was conducted with the help of a questionnaire which was sent to 1000 Vihti residents. The valuation was conducted with the choice experiment method. There were four different attributes in total: 1. recreational possibilities, 2. number of plant and animal species, 3. the state of the Lake Enäjärvi and 4. informing. The used payment vehicle was annual stormwater fee for a household. Questionnaires of this study where sent in three different phases during the summer 2016. The survey received 277 responses during the five-week time it was open. The response rate of the survey was 27,7%. Responses were gathered by mail and on a web-based survey. Valuation results of this study were analyzed with the Multinomial Logit-model. All together two different models were made. The first one had only the valuated attributes in it whereas the second model also included different background information. For the valuation we could draw a conclusion that the respondents where willing to pay fairly big amounts for certain attributes. They were the most willing to pay for the improvement in the state of Lake Enäjärvi. The second most valuated attribute was the recreational possibilities followed by informing and the increase in the amount of plant and animal species. Of the valuated attributes, all of them, exept informing, were statistically significant at all times in the level of 1–5%. Background information had an impact on the willingness to pay to some extent. For example a person who had previously visited a constructed wetland was more eager than an average respondent to pay for developing constructed wetlands. The WTP also increased if the respondeds household had higher income and he/she was planning to live more than five years in Vihti. WTP decreased if the respondent was male and he/she lived in a detached house. Results from the questions measuring respondents’ attitudes, perceptions and beliefs reveals that most of the respondents’ attitudes towards constructed wetlands are positive and they believe that constructed wetlands create benefits to the surrounding areas. The most beneficial aspect which urban wetlands were felt to provide was the benefit of views of an augmented landscape. 72% of the respondents indicated willingness to participate in water environment conservation activities during the next five years. Finally, most of the respondents felt that the results of the Urban Oases project and it presence in Vihti were positive.

In the last few decades urbanisation has increased in Finland. Due to need for additional housing, it is necessary to compact current residential areas or develop existing green spaces into residential areas. Compact residential areas reduce water-permeable land cover and therefore increase stormwater runoff. Wetlands are increasingly being used for urban stormwater treatment as they are natural stormwater filtration systems. To assess utility of wetlands and streams it is important to identify their ecosystem services and ensuing benefits. Economic valuation methods can be applied to the valuation of small-water bodies and wetlands using either actual market information or a hypothetical market context created in a survey questionnaire. The aim of the research is to estimate the value of current and future ecosystem services provided by streams and wetlands in the drainage basin of Viikki residential area in Helsinki. The stated preferences survey was implemented to elicit resident’s benefits from wetland ecosystem services. The payment vehicle in a choice experiment was a yearly stormwater fee. This research focused on the wetlands and streams located in Viikki and the northern region of Vanhankaupunginlahti bay. Survey invitation was sent in 2016 to 1000 randomly selected residents in Viikki and nearby areas. The sample targeted the residents aged 19-79, and the shares of postal code areas were Viikki 21,6%, Myllypuro 24,4 % and Kontula-Vesala 54 % as the largest. The survey was responded partially or completely by 244 respondents. The willingness to pay for wetland ecosystem services was the highest for stormwater treatment, followed by recreational services and biodiversity. The information on wetlands did not affect the choices. Distance to wetlands and streams had negative effect on choice situations. A wealth of information and opinions were obtained from respondents about wetland ecosystem services and wetlands. Urban Oases-project have succeeded in providing wetland information to residents and in involving residents in environmental management. The feedback from the survey was essentially positive. Based on analysis, new urban wetlands projects would increase residential welfare.