Economic Valuation of the Philippine’s Caramoan Beachscape

Abstract

This study determined the tourists’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the conservation of Caramoan beachscape in Camarines Sur, Philippines, as inputs in establishing the appropriate payment for environmental services for the sustainable development of ecotourism and coastal resource management of the area. The study employed the contingent valuation method (CVM) using four analytical models.

Based on the results, majority of the Caramoan tourists are younger, adventurous, without familial obligations, and highly educated and earn a relatively high income. One half of the visitors are willing to pay to promote the sustainability of the beachscapes. The visitors’ WTP in the general model was estimated to be PHP 897. The average monthly visitors were estimated to be 1,000 tourists per month. Using these data, the total economic value of conserving the beachscapes in Caramoan was estimated to be PHP 10.76 million annually. Bid amount, age, and income were the only factors that consistently correlated with WTP in all of the analytical models. This indicates that younger visitors and those who have higher income are more likely to be willing to pay for conservation.

The estimated economic value of conserving the Caramoan beachscape justifies the relevance of investing public funds to pursue sustainable beachscape ecotourism development in Caramoan. This study is an attempt to contextualize PES for beachscape. It highlighted the priority concerns for sustainable source of fund for conservation and harmonized institutional arrangements for beachscape tourism and coastal resource management. It supported the potential of implementing PES within a community-based coastal resource management framework under a marine fishery reserve-sanctuary setting comanaged by the community and the Caramoan LGU or within a natural protected area framework managed by the Caramoan Natural Park Protected Area Management Board.