The public demand for recreational harvesting of edible wild mushrooms has risen over the last two decades and currently affects all forestry areas with mycological resources in Spain. The idea of introducing a system of ‘user-pays’ fees has been conceived as a possible ecosystem management strategy. Valuing the recreational benefits people derive from harvesting edible wild mushrooms may provide some guidance as to how much people would be willing to pay and may also justify future taxes for on harvesters. Environmental valuation methods allow the benefits of this recreation activity to be estimated. In this case, the authors estimate a demand model of recreational harvesting of edible wild mushrooms in ‘Pinar
Edible wild mushroom picking is becoming an important source of income in rural areas. The wide range of activities which add value to mycological production (initial sale, transformation, marketing, etc.) include those related to tourism which can attract visitors to mushroom producing areas, leading to so-called mycological tourism. To date, no research exists quantifying the importance thereof in rural areas endowed with such resources. The present research provides the first model to estimate this activity's contribution to the economy of rural areas in the region of Castilla y León. The main finding to emerge evidences a close link between influx of visitors, who come principally to pick, and mycological productivity in the region. Based on this relation, we estimate four key variables to determine the impact which said activity has on the regional economy as a whole: the number of overnight stays and trips made by mycological tourists, as well as associated expenditure and employment created. Findings underscore the importance of this activity in the regional tourism industry and point to its significance as a major market niche, particularly during the hotel low season. The need for public administrators to implement a related management policy is also inferred.Key words: mycological tourism; estimation model; economic contribution to income and employment. ResumenEl turismo micológico como fuente de ingresos y empleo en el medio rural. El caso de Castilla y LeónLa recolección de hongos silvestres comestibles se está convirtiendo en un importante motor generador de rentas en el medio rural. Entre las variadas actividades que aportan valor a la cadena de producción, relacionadas con la micología (primera venta, transformación, comercialización, etc.), se encuentran aquellas de turismo capaces de atraer visitantes a los territorios productores o turismo micológico. En la actualidad no existe ninguna investigación que cuantifique su importancia en las áreas rurales con recurso. Así, en la presente investigación se desarrolla por primera vez un modelo, que se aplica para estimar esta aportación a la economía de los territorios rurales de la comunidad autónoma de Castilla y León. El principal hallazgo obtenido muestra que existe una fuerte relación entre afluencia de visitantes, cuya principal motivación es recolectar, y la productividad micológica del territorio. A partir de esta relación se estiman cuatro variables fundamentales para calcular la importancia de esta actividad en el total de esta economía: el número de pernoctaciones y de viajes realizados por turistas micológicos, así como el gasto asociado y el empleo generado. Los resultados expuestos muestran la importancia relativa de esta actividad sobre el sector del turismo rural en la región, lo que la convierte en un importante nicho de mercado de vital importancia, sobre todo en temporadas de baja ocupación de los establecimientos hoteleros, lo que hace necesario políticas de gestión de esta actividad por parte de las administraciones públic...
This study introduces a new approach to determine and assess total mushroom production as well as to partitioning off this gross production into: non-harvested unripe production; non-harvested ripe production; harvested production; production eaten by fauna; and damaged production. Nine 300 m-long transects were established in the studied area. The sampling method was carried out in 2004, 2005 and 2006, but 2006 was the most productive year. In this year, a production of 5.37 kg/ha was estimated for Boletus edulis in 2006 of which 24% of Boletus edulis gross production was harvested, 26% was damaged and 15% was recorded as ripe production. The distribution of the gross production by classes permits knowing essential aspects regarding edible mushrooms management including which pressure is undergoing the fungal resource (due to harvesting or grazing), quantity and quality of the production or whether the species regeneration is guaranteed at any momenThis information allows us to ascertain the fungal resources conservation state and undertake a management and regulatory process for edible mushrooms in the sampled areas.
Edible wild mushrooms harvesting is becoming an important activity that generates income in rural areas. This is the case of mycological tourism, an important niche in the subsector of rural tourism. Despite this situation, there is no research in relation to its importance in the rural areas with resources. So, this paper discusses its contribution to the economy of the rural territories in the autonomous region of Castilla y León. In this sense, we estimate four fundamental variables; the number of overnight stays and trips by this kind of tourists as well as associated spending and generated employment.
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