Valuation of ecotourism resources: estimating willingness to pay for wildlife conservation in Bannerghatta Biological Park
Student name: Ms Niharika Tyagi
Guide: Dr Kavita Sardana
Year of completion: 2013
Host Organisation: Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr Krishna Raj
Abstract: Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) is a unique recreational site for tourists due to its high
wildlife richness and accessibility with respect to its geographical location. Rising
conservational issues make it essential to elicit the value of wildlife in fiscal terms. Such
projected values can help policy makers in deciding objectives and priorities before
initiating any conservational work. The economic value that tourists place on wildlife is
grounded upon their Willingness To Pay (WTP) for conservation. To elicit the tourists’ WTP
for wildlife conservation, Contingent Valuation and Choice Experiment Methods are used to
administer 160 tourist surveys in BBP. The results of Logit regression show that tourist’s
age, total expenditure on trip and over all experience in BBP are the major predictors of
WTP. Estimated mean WTP through voluntary payments is Rs. 550.40 per capita and
findings suggest that park management should encourage voluntary payments through
adoption schemes and donations. It is recommended to increase the current zoo entrance
fees by a reasonable amount of Rs.10. the high preservation value that tourists place on
BBP suggests that wildlife inside the park is of great importance to them and any kind of
environmental disquiet would lead to reduced economic value.
Key words: Bannerghatta Biological Park, Contingent Valuation, Willingness to Pay,
conservation, voluntary payments
