An increasing number of protected areas (PAs) are being established in many countries to conserve and preserve the wildlife species and to maintain earth's ecological balance, but in emerging economies such as Ethiopia, PAs are currently confronted with inadequate conservation funding that makes it tough to protect the remaining biodiversity. PAs, therefore try to use other financial means such as ecotourism to subsidize their financial shortage and nourishes the nexus between conservation and development. Estimation of visitors' willingness to pay (WTP) would be useful to craft strategies to strengthen the self-financing capability of PAs and hence realizing environmental and livelihood goals. In this study, the visitors' WTP for the proposed conservation fund in the context of Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) was estimated using a contingent valuation method. The finding indicated that 75% of visitors were willing to pay a conservation fee. The mean WTP was estimated to be US$7.40 for foreign visitors and US$1.00 for domestic visitors. The finding suggests that the implementation of conservation fee in addition to the existing entry fee helps to improve the long-term sustainable financing of PAs.

No abstract

No abstract

This study focused on assessment and identification of potential tourism resources of Choke Mountain and its Environs. In the study, mixed research approach was employed to collect both qualitative and quantitative data which were collected via extensive review literature, questionnaire, interview, focus group discussion, and field observation. 74 samples were selected from Culture and Tourism Bureau and Agriculture and Rural Development at regional, Zonal and Woreda level purposively. The collected data were systematically organized, described, verified, analyzed, and interpreted through both qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods. The result revealed that Choke Mountain and its surroundings are endowed with natural, cultural, and historical potential tourism resources. Such as Aba Jime forests, Arat Mekerakir, Molalit cave, lake Bahire Giyorgies, and wildlife species accompanying with both tangible and intangible cultural and historical tourism resources such as churches and monasteries. For instance, Merto le Mariyam, Debre Worq and Dima monastery, and Washa Giyorgies Filfil church and others like T/ Haymanot palace, broken bridge, history of Belay Zeleke and his battle fields.