Local Communities Willingness to Pay for Conservation of Ecotourism Resources at Gelam Forest, Kelantan, Malaysia

Abstract

Gelam Forest significantly has a unique biodiversity composition that is not found in other areas. This unique biodiversity has high potential for ecotourism that has yet to be explored and promoted in Malaysia. The purpose of this study is to estimate the economic value of Gelam (Mellaleuca spp.) forest for being developed as one of the potential ecotourism attractions in Kelantan. The primary data were collected through face to face surveys with the local community in districts of Bachok. A total of 200 respondents were participated in this study which consists of nearby locals that have different demographics. Contingent valuation method (CVM) was applied in this study to determine the local community’s willingness to pay for ecotourism resources conservation at Gelam Forest. The result from logit regression indicates that the bid amount (price), income and education of respondents were significant predictors that influenced the level of willingness to pay for ecotourism resources conservation of Gelam Forest nearby to Universiti Malaysia Kelantan Bachok Campus. The estimated mean for public’s willingness to pay is found to be RM 4.20 per head per year. It was concluded that Gelam Forest conservation initiatives were feasible for ecotourism development in future. The financial resources obtained from the amount of WTP might be used for conservation and as a fund for maintenances purposed.

Evaluating Ecotourism for the Establishment of Fraser’s Hill State Park

“…As for visitor' WTP (general public and total respondent perspective), results show that bid price (BID1) are the only variable that significant at 5% level of significant. This result is similar with study done by (Mamat et al, 2020;Hassin et al, 2020). Furthermore, for local community perspective shows that visitor's WTP are influenced significantly at 5% by variable age and education level which these results can be supported by others study done by Kamaludin & Azlina (2020); Kamri (2013); Zaiton et al (2019) which the results shows that age and education gave impact on their studies.…”

“…Furthermore, another study is conducted by Hassin et al (2020), aims to observe local communities' willingness to pay for the conservation of ecotourism resources at Gelam Forest, Kelantan, Malaysia. Variables used are bid price, education, and income.…”

Economic Valuation of Forest Ecosystem for Watershed Services in Kelantan, Malaysia

“…However, a method can be used to measure marketable goods and services, such as the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). Hence, CVM is a method of estimation for non-market goods and services of environmental features or amenities, such as the value of particular places, the status of endangered species, recreational opportunities, scenic resources, and others [4], [5]. This method is closely related to the individual's behaviour in a hypothetical setting.…”

Tourism Stakeholders’ Perspective of Sustainable Practices at Kinabalu Park

“…Unmanageable waste by tourists and the local community can result in pollution and harm the quality of water resources in the national park (Hassan & Azhar, 2017). Lack of understanding of what is the right way to practice conservation efforts of the natural environment among the local community is one of the factors that contributes to the negative impact of ecotourism (Hassin et al, 2020). According to Mandulangi and Towoliu (2019), the local community can be the main participants of a direct threat to this conserved area if they fail to participate in the development of ecotourism.…”

“…Whereas there is no precise mention of the three pillars, the concept can be seen whereby sustainable development, in essence, is defined as that which ''vital elements are social and ecological factors, together with economic ones'' (Arushanyan et al, 2017). Brown et al (1987) found three ''prospects, or circumstances, where the term sustainability is used,'' born from their review of the literature (Hassin et al, 2020). The social aspect comes with the outlook of giving continued satisfaction of basic human needs of the individual, and the ecological part focuses on the continuation of the functioning ecosystem and productivity (Barbier & Burgess 2017).…”