A Business Case for Marine Protected Areas: Economic Valuation of the Reef Attributes of Cozumel Island

Sustainability

JoséAlberto Lara-Pulido¹  Alejandro Guevara-Sanginés¹  Cecilia Simon²  Ángela Mojica²  Aaron Bruner²  Cristopher González-Baca³  Felipe Vásquez-Lavin⁴  MaríaJosé Infanzón⁵ 

[1] CENTRUS—Centro Transdisciplinar Universitario para la Sustentabilidad, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City 01219, Mexico;Conservarion Strategy Fund (CSF), Washington, DC 20011, USA;Director Parque Nacional Arrecifes de Cozumel, Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, Quintana Roo 77600, Mexico;Facultad de Economía y Negocios, Universidad del Desarrollo, Concepción 4030000, Chile;Independent Consultant, Mexico City 54769, Mexico;

关键词: choice experiment;    contingent valuation;    ecosystem services;    protected areas;    coral reefs;    tourism;   

DOI  :  10.3390/su13084307

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Tourism to Cozumel Island generates USD 762 million annually in local economic activity, and 111 visitors stay in local hotels for each inhabitant. The island’s coast is its principal attraction, yet water quality and reef health are threatened. This paper studies the link between the local economy and management of Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park, using a choice experiment to assess the economic value visitors assign to underwater visibility, biodiversity, and visitor congestion in reef areas. We found that, on average, tourists are willing to pay USD 190 per visit to avoid a projected decrease in biodiversity, USD 120 per visit to prevent a projected decline in visibility, and USD 98 to avoid high congestion during reef visits. We find high heterogeneity in willingness to pay estimates, which may be useful for targeting both conservation and marketing efforts. On the other hand, increasing the reef access fee from USD 2 to USD 6 could fully fund effective protected area management, with no substantial effect on visitors’ consumer surplus. Results suggest that a conservation surcharge could be added to all tours, with little impact on visitation, and that significantly increasing private sector collaboration and government spending on conservation would be good economic choices.

【 授权许可】

Unknown