Open AccessEstimating the Recreational Benefits of Coral Restoration in Northwestern, Philippines
Author(s) -
Tara Alessandra S. Abrina,
Jeff Bennett
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of environmental science and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.156
H-Index - 9
ISSN - 0119-1144
DOI - 10.47125/jesam/2018_2/11
Subject(s) - recreation , reef , context (archaeology) , coral reef , geography , asset (computer security) , fishery , environmental science , ecology , biology , computer security , archaeology , computer science
In this study, the recreational value of restoring corals reefs was estimated in the context of a site in Northwestern Philippines. This study applied the travel cost method with a variation that integrates a contingent behavior question. This allowed for the estimation of marginal benefits in the context of a change in recreational asset quality. The recreational study site, including the reef in its damaged state, gave rise to average per visit benefits of around US$63.00. With a restored reef, that average value increased to approximately US$113.00 per visit. Hence, the average marginal benefits associated with an investment in reef restoration for this case study site is in the order of US$50 per visit, with a 95% confidence interval of US$0.72 million to US$3.34 M yr-1.