Coastal communities willingness to pay for mangrove ecotourism in Marudu Bay Sabah Malaysia

Fazilah Musa, . and Norashikeen Mohd Fozi, . and Diana Demiyah Mohd Hamdan, . Coastal communities willingness to pay for mangrove ecotourism in Marudu Bay Sabah Malaysia. pp. 130-140. ISSN 2672-7226

The revenue contribution of mangrove forests to Malaysias economic growth is usually associated with fishing. Generally fishing is one of the main sources of income for coastal communities and mangroves are found in abundance in coastal areas. Nowadays mangrove forests have become a very significant product in the tourism sector. It enhances Malaysias economy through increasing the earnings of local communities and creating more job opportunities. The potential of mangrove forests as a dynamic ecotourism industry is being rapidly capitalized in many parts of Malaysia. However the economic benefits of mangrove forests in the tourism sector have not been used to its fullest because of the non-existent market for this resource. This study aims to determine the willingness to pay (WTP) of the coastal communities in Marudu Bay Sabah to develop their mangrove areas as an ecotourism destination. To achieve this the study engages in the contingent valuation method (CVM). Questionnaires were distributed to 400 respondents from five selected coastal villages asking them whether they are willing to pay for five bid prices RM5 RM10 RM15 RM20 or RM30 for mangrove ecotourism conservation. Logistic regression was applied to estimate the mean WTP by using three different types of logit models. Results indicate that the estimated mean for each WTP model is as follows: Model 1 (the full model) at RM12.96/person/year Model 2 (the restricted model) at RM16.08/ person/year and Model 3 at RM25.68/person/year respectively. The coastal communities responses of their WTP were based on the bidding prices and their socio-demographic variables. The majority of them had the WTP because they were confident that the conservation of mangroves promotes sustainable ecotourism and can improve community income hence would better their livelihoods for generations to come.

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Abstract

The revenue contribution of mangrove forests to Malaysias economic growth is usually associated with fishing. Generally fishing is one of the main sources of income for coastal communities and mangroves are found in abundance in coastal areas. Nowadays mangrove forests have become a very significant product in the tourism sector. It enhances Malaysias economy through increasing the earnings of local communities and creating more job opportunities. The potential of mangrove forests as a dynamic ecotourism industry is being rapidly capitalized in many parts of Malaysia. However the economic benefits of mangrove forests in the tourism sector have not been used to its fullest because of the non-existent market for this resource. This study aims to determine the willingness to pay (WTP) of the coastal communities in Marudu Bay Sabah to develop their mangrove areas as an ecotourism destination. To achieve this the study engages in the contingent valuation method (CVM). Questionnaires were distributed to 400 respondents from five selected coastal villages asking them whether they are willing to pay for five bid prices RM5 RM10 RM15 RM20 or RM30 for mangrove ecotourism conservation. Logistic regression was applied to estimate the mean WTP by using three different types of logit models. Results indicate that the estimated mean for each WTP model is as follows: Model 1 (the full model) at RM12.96/person/year Model 2 (the restricted model) at RM16.08/ person/year and Model 3 at RM25.68/person/year respectively. The coastal communities responses of their WTP were based on the bidding prices and their socio-demographic variables. The majority of them had the WTP because they were confident that the conservation of mangroves promotes sustainable ecotourism and can improve community income hence would better their livelihoods for generations to come.

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Item Type:	Article
AGROVOC Term:	Mangrove forests
AGROVOC Term:	Mangroves
AGROVOC Term:	Coastal area
AGROVOC Term:	Local communities
AGROVOC Term:	Valuation
AGROVOC Term:	Questionnaires
AGROVOC Term:	Contingent valuation
AGROVOC Term:	Models
AGROVOC Term:	Tourism
AGROVOC Term:	Economic value
Depositing User:	Mr. AFANDI ABDUL MALEK
Last Modified:	24 Apr 2025 00:54
URI:	http://webagris.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/9211

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