Visitor’s willingness to pay for cultural ecosystem services in Bangladesh - an assessment for Lawachara National Park, a biodiversity hotspot302.46 kBDownloadView
cultural ecosystem service ecotourism Lawachara National Park travel cost method willingness to pay
The valuation of natural ecosystems helps policymakers in allocate adequate resources for the provision of ecosystem services they provide. Cultural ecosystem services are the non-material benefits we obtain from nature, which include but are not limited to recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, physical and mental health benefits. They are essential for a proper sense of a place, human health, and wellbeing. We quantified the recreational and other non-material benefits of Lawachara National Park (LNP), one of the oldest and most diverse forest protected area and touristic attractions in northeast Bangladesh. A Modified Travel Cost Method (MTCM) was applied for quantifying the recreational and other non-material values of LNP. Altogether 309 respondents were interviewed, covering both peak season and slack season. In our MTCM, we considered several additional factors, unlike the commonly used Travel Cost Method (TCM). The value of cultural ecosystem services of LNP was estimated to be Taka 1 476.70 million and Taka 476.44 million per annum using MTCM and TCM, respectively. The value estimated using MTCM was marginally higher than the value estimated using TCM and was due to the additional variables we considered in our modified approach. We believe our estimates using MTCM will guide policymakers to properly value natural ecosystems and facilitate adequate resource allocation for ecotourism in LNP and elsewhere.
Details
Title
Visitor’s willingness to pay for cultural ecosystem services in Bangladesh: an assessment for Lawachara National Park, a biodiversity hotspot
Authors
Narayan Saha (Author) - Shahjalal University of Science and Technology
Sharif A Mukul (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Tropical Forests and People Research Centre
Publication details
Research Square, Vol.8 March 2021, pp.1-16
Publisher
Research Square Company
Date published
2021
DOI
10.21203/rs.3.rs-269549/v1
ISSN
2693-5015
Copyright note
Copyright (c) 2021. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License.
Organisation Unit
Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language
English
Record Identifier
99518608702621
Output Type
Preprint
Metrics
4 File views/ downloads
22 Record Views
Start New Search
Browse Research Outputs
Browse Researcher Profiles
Browse by Academic and Organisation Units
Visitor’s willingness to pay for cultural ecosystem services in Bangladesh - an assessment for Lawachara National Park, a biodiversity hotspot