Willingness to Pay for Conservation of Natural Resources in the Gunung Gading National Park, Sarawak

Abstract

An open-ended contingent valuation survey was conducted involving local and international visitors to estimate the environmental economics of Gunung Gading National Park. This was to elicit the willingness to pay for its conservation. Using a random survey, the average willingness to pay was RM16.14 for international visitors per visit and RM7.38 per local visitor per visit for improvement in environmental conservation. The willingness to pay was strongly influenced by gender, education and income. This study demonstrated that contingent valuation method can be a useful tool to guide decision makers regarding policy purposes and natural resources management of protected area in developing countries.