Valuing Ecosystem Services in a UNESCO Global Geopark: Spatial Assessment of Tourists’ Willingness to Pay for Biodiversity Conservation in Ciletuh, Indonesia

¹ Catering Industry Management, FPIPS, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia
² Resort and Leisure Management, FPIPS, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia
³ Geography Education, FPIPS, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia
⁴ SDGs Center, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: purnahindayani@upi.edu

Abstract

Biodiversity ecosystem services are shared resources whose value can be measured through willingness to pay (WTP). This study aims to assess the willingness to pay of tourists for the conservation of biological resources in the UNESCO Global Geopark Ciletuh which is one of the leading tourist destinations in Indonesia. Furthermore, knowing how much visitors are willing to pay (WTP) for natural ecosystems can help policy makers manage biological resources and the environment which are the main foundation of sustainable nature-based tourism. The survey was conducted on 376 visiting tourists. The method used is a spatial assessment of the environmental ecosystem service approach, willingness to pay (WTP) for the uniqueness of biodiversity and factors that influence the WTP value using logit regression. The results of the mapping of ecosystem services supporting biodiversity show a very high-high category of 42,17% of the total area of the Ciletuh Geopark. The results also show that more than half of the respondents 68.8% are willing to pay for the conservation of biological resources in the Ciletuh Geopark. The average willingness to contribute to the general conservation fund is around $ 1.27 (Rp. 20,896). It was found that WTP for conservation was influenced by factors closely Introduction