Economic Valuation of the Sundarbans Reserved Forest of Bangladesh The Zonal Travel Cost Method
Sundarbans Reserved Forest hosts the largest single block of tidal, salt-water mangrove forest on Earth with a diverse collection of flora and fauna, including many endangered ones. It is thus, (and also generally) necessary to find an appropriate estimation of the recreational benefits of this world-renowned region as a tool for the conservation of biodiversity, as well as the development of ecotourism, there. This report has been designed to do just that (estimate the recreational value) and to exhibit a relationship between the Sundarbans Reserved Forest (SRF) in Bangladesh and travel cost, using the responses of the visitors to this region from all over Bangladesh. A zonal approach of the travel cost technique has been used here and the sample was 300 visitors of SRF over a period of seven days. The analysis yielded that the total value of the environmental resources of SRF is around 197 million Tk./year. A suggestion has also been made of initiating an entrance fee of 50 Tk./person/visit which could generate proceeds of approximately 5,000,000 Tk./year, to successfully fulfill the duties of the mangrove area management and biodiversity conservation. Keywords— travel cost, valuation, Sundarbans