IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i18p8267-d1483746.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluating the Economic Viability of Agro-Ecotourism as a Nature-Based Solution for a Climate Adaptation Strategy: A Case Study of Yuanshan Township, Taiwan

Author

Listed:
  • Wan-Jiun Chen

    (Institute of Natural Resources Management, National Taipei University, No. 151, University Rd., Sanxia District, New Taipei City 237, Taiwan)

  • Jihn-Fa Jan

    (Department of Land Economics, National Chengchi University, No. 64, Section 2, Zhinan Rd., Taipei 116, Taiwan)

  • Chih-Hsin Chung

    (Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, National Ilan University, No. 1, Section 1, Shennong Rd., Yilan City 260, Taiwan)

  • Shyue-Cherng Liaw

    (Department of Geography, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 162, Section 1, Heping East Rd., Taipei 106, Taiwan)

Abstract

This study applied the contingent valuation method to evaluate the economic viability of climate adaptation policies in the climate-fragile Yuanshan Township (YST), Taiwan, focusing on the balance between forest conservation and local livelihoods. Traditional agriculture in YST is transitioning to agro-ecotourism, supported by leisure-oriented and hillside forest protection policies that attract visitors and cause the local economy to thrive. This research used non-market valuation methods to quantify the value of local recreational resources perceived by visitors at NTD 1002.00 per visitor. The findings indicate that visitors’ willingness to pay for these resources is significantly influenced by their intention to revisit YST, their trust in local conservation efforts, their gender, and their income. The value that visitors place on recreational resources and the aforementioned significant determinants of their willingness to pay highlight the economic potential of agro-ecotourism in supporting both environmental sustainability and community income. This study emphasizes that successful nature-based climate adaptation must consider the economic interests of resource users and local residents. Agro-ecotourism in YST is shown to be a viable policy for balancing forest conservation with societal benefits, providing a model for the sustainable management of local resources. The economic benefits from this transition underscore the feasibility of agricultural transformation for community income generation and climate resilience, demonstrating that environmental and economic goals can be mutually supportive in addressing climate change.

Suggested Citation

  • Wan-Jiun Chen & Jihn-Fa Jan & Chih-Hsin Chung & Shyue-Cherng Liaw, 2024. "Evaluating the Economic Viability of Agro-Ecotourism as a Nature-Based Solution for a Climate Adaptation Strategy: A Case Study of Yuanshan Township, Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:18:p:8267-:d:1483746
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/8267/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/8267/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wan-Jiun Chen & Jihn-Fa Jan & Chih-Hsin Chung & Shyue-Cherng Liaw, 2023. "Do Eco-Based Adaptation Measures Enhance Ecosystem Adaptation Services? Economic Evidence from a Study of Hillside Forests in a Fragile Watershed in Northeastern Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-17, June.
    2. Cameron, Trudy Ann, 1988. "A new paradigm for valuing non-market goods using referendum data: Maximum likelihood estimation by censored logistic regression," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 355-379, September.
    3. W. Michael Hanemann, 1984. "Welfare Evaluations in Contingent Valuation Experiments with Discrete Responses," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 66(3), pages 332-341.
    4. Wan-Yu Liu & Pin-Zheng Chen & Chi-Ming Hsieh, 2019. "Assessing the Recreational Value of a National Forest Park from Ecotourists’ Perspective in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Wan-Jiun Chen & Jihn-Fa Jan & Chih-Hsin Chung & Shyue-Cherng Liaw, 2023. "Agriculture Risks and Opportunities in a Climate-Vulnerable Watershed in Northeastern Taiwan—The Opinions of Leisure Agriculture Operators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-22, October.
    6. Wan-Jiun Chen & Jihn-Fa Jan & Chih-Hsin Chung & Shyue-Cherng Liaw, 2022. "Resident Willingness to Pay for Ecosystem Services in Hillside Forests," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-17, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wan-Jiun Chen & Jihn-Fa Jan & Chih-Hsin Chung & Shyue-Cherng Liaw, 2024. "Navigating Land Conservation, Utilization, and Market Solutions: Insights from the Lanyang River Watershed, Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-23, May.
    2. Kwak, So-Yoon & Yoo, Seung-Hoon, 2015. "The public’s value for developing ocean energy technology in the Republic of Korea: A contingent valuation study," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 432-439.
    3. Hermann Donfouet & Ephias Makaudze & Pierre-Alexandre Mahieu & Eric Malin, 2011. "The determinants of the willingness-to-pay for community-based prepayment scheme in rural Cameroon," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 209-220, September.
    4. John, Kun H. & Youn, Yeo C. & Shin, Joon H., 2003. "Resolving conflicting ecological and economic interests in the Korean DMZ: a valuation based approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 173-179, August.
    5. Yoonae Jo, 2001. "Does college education nourish egoism?," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 4(2), pages 115-128, June.
    6. Henrik Andersson & James Hammitt & Gunnar Lindberg & Kristian Sundström, 2013. "Erratum to: Willingness to Pay and Sensitivity to Time Framing: A Theoretical Analysis and an Application on Car Safety," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 56(3), pages 457-457, November.
    7. Jorge E. Araña & Carmelo J. León, 2012. "Scale-perception bias in the valuation of environmental risks," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(20), pages 2607-2617, July.
    8. Bergstrom, John C. & Taylor, Laura O., 2006. "Using meta-analysis for benefits transfer: Theory and practice," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 351-360, December.
    9. Denzil G. Fiebig & Michael P. Keane & Jordan Louviere & Nada Wasi, 2010. "The Generalized Multinomial Logit Model: Accounting for Scale and Coefficient Heterogeneity," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(3), pages 393-421, 05-06.
    10. Leslie Richardson & Lynne Lewis, 2022. "Getting to know you: individual animals, wildlife webcams, and willingness to pay for brown bear preservation," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(2), pages 673-692, March.
    11. Rulleau, Bénédicte & Dehez, Jeoffrey & Point, Patrick, 2011. "The tourist recreational demand for coastal forests: Do forests really matter?," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement (RAEStud), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 92(3).
    12. Delmond, Anthony R. & McCluskey, Jill J. & Yormirzoev, Mirzobobo & Rogova, Maria A., 2018. "Russian consumer willingness to pay for genetically modified food," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 91-100.
    13. Mary Riddel & John Loomis, 1998. "Joint Estimation of Multiple CVM Scenarios under a Double Bounded Questioning Format," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 12(1), pages 77-98, July.
    14. Richard T. Carson, 2011. "Contingent Valuation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2489, March.
    15. Carmelo Javier León, 1995. "El método dicotómico de valoración contingente: una aplicación a los espacios naturales en Gran Canaria," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 19(1), pages 83-106, January.
    16. Carmelo J. León & Jorge E. Araña & Matías González & Javier de León, 2014. "Tourists' Evaluation of Climate Change Risks in the Canary Islands: A Heterogeneous Response Modelling Approach," Tourism Economics, , vol. 20(4), pages 849-868, August.
    17. Gebreegziabher, Z. & Mekonnen, A. & Beyene, A.D. & Hagos, F., 2018. "Valuation of access to irrigation water in rural Ethiopia: application of choice experiment and contingent valuation methods," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277168, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    18. Michael, Jeffrey A. & Reiling, Stephen D., 1997. "The Role Of Expectations And Heterogeneous Preferences For Congestion In The Valuation Of Recreation Benefits," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 26(2), pages 1-8, October.
    19. Whittington, Dale & Hua Wang, 2000. "Willingness to pay for air quality improvements in Sofia, Bulgaria," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2280, The World Bank.
    20. V. Smith & Xiaolong Zhang & Raymond Palmquist, 1997. "Marine Debris, Beach Quality, and Non-Market Values," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 10(3), pages 223-247, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:18:p:8267-:d:1483746. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.