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Assessment of the Economic Value of Ecological Conservation of the Kenting Coral Reef

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  • Chun-Hung Lee

    (Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, College of Environmental Studies, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien 97401, Taiwan)

  • Yun-Ju Chen

    (Department of Applied Economics, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung City 402, Taiwan)

  • Chu-Wei Chen

    (Department of Applied Economics, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung City 402, Taiwan)

Abstract

Sightseeing and recreation have become prevalent in the Kenting coral reef area. However, coral reefs in Kenting are being severely bleached at an increasing rate under the influence of excessive human activities and climate change that have necessitated stronger conservation policies by the government. Based on a random utility model for coral ecology conservation, the preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) values of diving, fishing, and sightseeing visitors are analyzed. Empirical results show that: (1) increasing living coral coverage, improving water quality, restricting the number of daily visitors, increasing biodiversity, increasing the ratio of marine protected areas, and reducing the coral reef’s conservation fund will improve the overall utility of Kenting for visitors; (2) the WTP values significantly vary with respondents’ socioeconomic background and travel behaviors; (3) the results of a latent class model (LCM) also show that the two groups with different coral conservation preferences and WTP values have different socioeconomic backgrounds and travel behaviors.

Suggested Citation

  • Chun-Hung Lee & Yun-Ju Chen & Chu-Wei Chen, 2019. "Assessment of the Economic Value of Ecological Conservation of the Kenting Coral Reef," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-17, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:20:p:5869-:d:279211
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    2. Yu-Hui Chen & Kai-Han Qiu & Kang Ernest Liu & Chun-Yuan Chiang, 2020. "Are Consumers Willing to Pay a Premium for Pure Rice Noodles? A Study of Discrete Choice Experiments in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-18, July.
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