Abstract
The aim of this paper is to esitimate the environmental benefits of the policy for preserving agriculture and rural area using by contingent valuation method (CVM). We evaluate multifunctionarities of agriculture and rural area including preventing floods, underground water nourishment, preserving water environment, preventing soil erosion, managing organic wastes, creation of beautiful landscapes, health recreation and serenity, and preservation of biodiversity and wildlife habitats. Our scenario is keeping status quo against decresing 20% of farm land during 30 years. The participants in this survey are 2, 140 households from the whole country. The result indicate that economic value of environmental benefits from preserving agriculture and rural area is 4, 441 yen/household/year (0.95 confidence interval is between 2, 918 yen and 7, 254 yen).
