Assessment of the Economic Value of Ecological Conservation of the Kenting Coral Reef

Abstract

Sightseeing and recreation have become prevalent in the Kenting coral reef area. However, coral reefs in Kenting are being severely bleached at an increasing rate under the influence of excessive human activities and climate change that have necessitated stronger conservation policies by the government. Based on a random utility model for coral ecology conservation, the preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) values of diving, fishing, and sightseeing visitors are analyzed. Empirical results show that: (1) increasing living coral coverage, improving water quality, restricting the number of daily visitors, increasing biodiversity, increasing the ratio of marine protected areas, and reducing the coral reef’s conservation fund will improve the overall utility of Kenting for visitors; (2) the WTP values significantly vary with respondents’ socioeconomic background and travel behaviors; (3) the results of a latent class model (LCM) also show that the two groups with different coral conservation preferences and WTP values have different socioeconomic backgrounds and travel behaviors.

Incorporating Integrative Perspectives into Impact Reduction Management in a Reef Recreation Area

“…This study evaluates and estimates tourists' preferences for an impact reduction program in a reef activity site with the RPL model and through an interaction effect based on ASC and FUND with different stakeholder groups ( Table 2). For the GOF of the model [54,57,62], the log likelihood ratio (LLR) was calculated by using the formula LLR = −2(LL1-LL2) = 1465.3 ( Table 2), and indicated that all the models were statistically significant at the 99% confidence interval. The negative correlation and statistically significant sign of coefficients and t-value for ASC indicating that the tourists had a higher preference for changing the status quo regarding a reef impact reduction program.…”

“…The optimal program of reef impact reduction, from a welfare standpoint, was found to be the integrated program, followed by the institutional management approach, and recreational control approach, respectively. The best scenario for a reef impact reduction program for the sustainable marine management [54] in the reef recreational area can be achieved by the following: setting up carrying capacity control for snorkeling and scuba diving tourists, setting up a control mechanism for the experience area, having tourists take a boat to the snorkeling point, setting up marine police, and increase educational training before snorkeling and scuba diving.…”

“…The purpose of this study is threefold: (1) To establish a tourist preference function for reef impact reduction programs with choice experiment method (CE). CE is a useful method for policymakers charged with designing various types of regimes based on the evaluation of potential attributes and the value of non-market goods [48][49][50][51][52][53][54]. The program includes the attributes and levels of institutional management (providing educational training and setting up marine police) and recreational control (controlling number of divers, setting up a control mechanism in the snorkeling experience area, and taking a boat to the diving location).…”

“…To achieve the goal of effective management of any protected reef area, decision-makers and managers will need to understand the tradeoffs between respondents' preferences for the conservation of the ecosystem and recreational uses [54,57,58]. In a CE model, respondents have been asked to rate the importance of a variety of attributes by completing surveys, with the resulting data providing marine ecosystem managers with useful information about respondent's preferences [57,59,60].…”

“…They had the highest MWTP for the attributes of the reef impact reduction program in this study and targeting them may bolster protection efforts and environmental education. Finally, for the positioning and planning of a reef impact reduction program for the sustainable marine management [54], the managers should focus on setting up a carrying capacity control mechanism for snorkeling and scuba diving tourists, setting up a control mechanism for experience area itself, facilitating tourists taking a boat to the snorkeling point, setting up a marine police institution, increasing educational training before snorkeling and scuba diving, and establishing a coral reef welfare foundation in order to advance the goals of sustainability and marine ecotourism simultaneously in the protected area.…”