The current and future value of nature-based tourism in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania

Julian Bayliss; Marije Schaafsma; Andrew Balmford; Neil  Burgess; Jonathan Michael Halsey Green; Seif Madoffe; Sana Okayasu; Kelvin Peh; Philip John Platts; Douglas Yu

doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.02.006

The current and future value of nature-based tourism in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania

Julian Bayliss, Marije Schaafsma, Andrew Balmford, Neil Burgess, Jonathan Michael Halsey Green, Seif Madoffe, Sana Okayasu, Kelvin Peh, Philip John Platts, Douglas Yu

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The financial benefit derived from nature-based tourism in the Eastern Arc Mountains (EAMs) of Tanzania has never been assessed. Here, we calculate the Producer Surplus (PS) related to expenditure on accommodation in the EAMs. This estimate is based on the number of visitor bed-nights collected from a representative sample of hotels, coupled with spatially explicit regression models to extrapolate visitor numbers to unsampled locations, and adjusted to account for how far visits were motivated by nature. The estimated annual PS of nature-based tourism is ~US$195,000. In order to evaluate the future impact of different forest management regimes on PS over a 25 year period, we compare two alternative scenarios of land use. Under a ‘hopeful expectations’ scenario of no forest loss from protected areas, the present value of PS from nature-based tourism is ~US$1.9 million, compared with US$1.6 million under a ‘business-as-usual’ scenario. Although the value of nature-based tourism to the EAMs is lower than that generated by Tanzania’s large game reserves, these revenues, together with other ecosystem services provided by the area, such as carbon storage and water regulation, may enhance the case for sustainable forest management.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	75-83
Number of pages	9
Journal	Ecosystem Services
Volume	8
Early online date	14 Mar 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.02.006
Publication status	Published - Jun 2014

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10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.02.006

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@article{54eab60d439d4e4f8bf816060482672f,

title = "The current and future value of nature-based tourism in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania",

abstract = "The financial benefit derived from nature-based tourism in the Eastern Arc Mountains (EAMs) of Tanzania has never been assessed. Here, we calculate the Producer Surplus (PS) related to expenditure on accommodation in the EAMs. This estimate is based on the number of visitor bed-nights collected from a representative sample of hotels, coupled with spatially explicit regression models to extrapolate visitor numbers to unsampled locations, and adjusted to account for how far visits were motivated by nature. The estimated annual PS of nature-based tourism is ~US$195,000. In order to evaluate the future impact of different forest management regimes on PS over a 25 year period, we compare two alternative scenarios of land use. Under a {\textquoteleft}hopeful expectations{\textquoteright} scenario of no forest loss from protected areas, the present value of PS from nature-based tourism is ~US$1.9 million, compared with US$1.6 million under a {\textquoteleft}business-as-usual{\textquoteright} scenario. Although the value of nature-based tourism to the EAMs is lower than that generated by Tanzania{\textquoteright}s large game reserves, these revenues, together with other ecosystem services provided by the area, such as carbon storage and water regulation, may enhance the case for sustainable forest management.",

author = "Julian Bayliss and Marije Schaafsma and Andrew Balmford and Neil Burgess and Green, {Jonathan Michael Halsey} and Seif Madoffe and Sana Okayasu and Kelvin Peh and Platts, {Philip John} and Douglas Yu",

year = "2014",

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doi = "10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.02.006",

language = "English",

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AU - Bayliss, Julian

AU - Schaafsma, Marije

AU - Balmford, Andrew

AU - Burgess, Neil

AU - Green, Jonathan Michael Halsey

AU - Madoffe, Seif

AU - Okayasu, Sana

AU - Peh, Kelvin

AU - Platts, Philip John

AU - Yu, Douglas

PY - 2014/6

Y1 - 2014/6

N2 - The financial benefit derived from nature-based tourism in the Eastern Arc Mountains (EAMs) of Tanzania has never been assessed. Here, we calculate the Producer Surplus (PS) related to expenditure on accommodation in the EAMs. This estimate is based on the number of visitor bed-nights collected from a representative sample of hotels, coupled with spatially explicit regression models to extrapolate visitor numbers to unsampled locations, and adjusted to account for how far visits were motivated by nature. The estimated annual PS of nature-based tourism is ~US$195,000. In order to evaluate the future impact of different forest management regimes on PS over a 25 year period, we compare two alternative scenarios of land use. Under a ‘hopeful expectations’ scenario of no forest loss from protected areas, the present value of PS from nature-based tourism is ~US$1.9 million, compared with US$1.6 million under a ‘business-as-usual’ scenario. Although the value of nature-based tourism to the EAMs is lower than that generated by Tanzania’s large game reserves, these revenues, together with other ecosystem services provided by the area, such as carbon storage and water regulation, may enhance the case for sustainable forest management.

AB - The financial benefit derived from nature-based tourism in the Eastern Arc Mountains (EAMs) of Tanzania has never been assessed. Here, we calculate the Producer Surplus (PS) related to expenditure on accommodation in the EAMs. This estimate is based on the number of visitor bed-nights collected from a representative sample of hotels, coupled with spatially explicit regression models to extrapolate visitor numbers to unsampled locations, and adjusted to account for how far visits were motivated by nature. The estimated annual PS of nature-based tourism is ~US$195,000. In order to evaluate the future impact of different forest management regimes on PS over a 25 year period, we compare two alternative scenarios of land use. Under a ‘hopeful expectations’ scenario of no forest loss from protected areas, the present value of PS from nature-based tourism is ~US$1.9 million, compared with US$1.6 million under a ‘business-as-usual’ scenario. Although the value of nature-based tourism to the EAMs is lower than that generated by Tanzania’s large game reserves, these revenues, together with other ecosystem services provided by the area, such as carbon storage and water regulation, may enhance the case for sustainable forest management.

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