For several ecosystem services in-depth economic valuation studies already exist. However
preferences for ecosystem insurance services have rarely been investigated so far. This is
especially the case for one of the most important functional aspects of biodiversity: Its
potential capacity to safeguard the long-term functioning of fundamental ecosystem processes in
the face of potential future environmental risks which we are not aware of yet. Previous
research has shown that quantifying economic preferences for protection against known and also
unknown environmental risks is possible. This thesis is based on these previous findings.
Kristin Schröder investigates the determinants of human behavior in the face of environmental
risks i.e. the values beliefs and norms underlying risk-related behavior. For this purpose
Schröder conducted a postal survey in ten counties in Central Germany in the fall of 2009
(Hannover Hildesheim Holzminden Northeim and Göttingen [Lower Saxony] as well as Eichsfeld
Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis Gotha Sömmerda and Erfurt [Thuringia]). The respective Willingness to
Pay (WTP) for several ecosystem insurance services was elicited using the Choice Experiment
Method. Furthermore the values beliefs and norms under-lying the respondents' WTP were
analyzed via structural equation modeling. In applied terms the results of Schröder's study
suggest a firm conservation focus on maintaining and fostering forest resistance and resilience
against envi-ronmental risks.
