How much is a clean beach worth? The impact of litter on beach users in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.

Abstract

tranded and discarded litter detracts from the aesthetic quality of beaches, and the quantities of litter on South African beaches continue to increase. We estimate the deterrent effect this has on beach users, and the consequent effect on the regional economy. An interview survey was used to determine the importance of beach cleanliness to local and non-local beach users. Cleanliness was stated as the most important factor in influencing choice of beach, especially by foreign tourists. Almost half the respondents from the Cape Metropolitan Region are prepared to spend more than seven times the average trip cost to visit clean beaches. Furthermore, up to 97% of the value of these beaches could be lost by a drop in standards of cleanliness. Litter densities of more than 10 large items per metre of beach would deter 40% of foreign tourists, and 60% of domestic tour­ists interviewed, from returning to Cape Town. The impact of this on the regional economy could be a loss of billions of rands each year. A Travel Cost approach esti­mated the total annual recreational value of selected beaches in the Cape Peninsula, South Africa, at between R3 million and R23 million. The large variation is due to a num­ber of assumptions inherent to the Travel Cost Method, and extrapolations from the limited data available. Beach cleaning within the Cape Metropolitan Region is clearly necessary, however, expenditure during the study period (R3 million in 1994-95) is high in relation to the recre­ational value, and alternative methods of reducing debris at source are required to improve beach cleanliness.