Visitor’s Willingness to Pay for Cultural Ecosystem Services in Bangladesh: An Assessment for Lawachara National Park, a Biodiversity Hotspot

Sharif A. Mukul,Narayan Saha

doi:10.1007/s11842-021-09494-5

Abstract

The valuation of natural ecosystems helps policymakers to 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 areas and tourist 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 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.

Highlights

Forests are vital for providing us with a wide range of regulating, provisioning, and cultural ecosystem services (Ota et al 2021; Saha 2021; Landell-Mills and Porras 2002)
The value estimated using Modified Travel Cost Method (MTCM) was marginally higher than the value estimated using Travel Cost Method (TCM) and was due to the additional variables we considered in our modified approach
We considered several additional factors in our MTCM, unlike the commonly used Travel Cost Method (TCM), which we believe minimize the uncertainty resulting from possible overestimation or underestimation of a particular site

Summary

Introduction

Forests are vital for providing us with a wide range of regulating, provisioning, and cultural ecosystem services (Ota et al 2021; Saha 2021; Landell-Mills and Porras 2002). Regulating and provisioning ecosystem services mainly represents material benefits from the forest, such as biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, climate regulation, water retention, nutrient cycling (Sinha and Baten 2021; Mukul et al 2017a). On the other hand, represent non-material benefits, like recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, physical and mental health benefits that we derive from forests (Nadiruzzaman and Rahman 2021), and are still underrepresented in literature due to the complexity of their nature (Ezebilo 2016). In forest areas, cultural ecosystem service generates revenue through recreational benefits, which usually is an experience of enjoyment resulting from a complex interaction between travellers, their trip objective, usual environment and cultural background, the forest biodiversity, and other things (Sands 2005; Pant 1984). Ecotourism encourages local people to value and protect wildlife heritage as a source of income (Mree et al 2020; Mukul et al 2012; Weaver 2008)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion