Conservation finance and sustainable tourism: the acceptability of conservation fees to support the Tambopata National Reserve,Peru

Protected areas are key to the conservation of global biodiversity and ecosystem services; however, their success is contingent upon adequate funding. One possibility to increase funding for park management is to “sell” a wider suite of ecosystem services “produced” by protected areas, such as carbon sequestration. We conducted 420 tourist surveys to analyze willingness to pay (WTP) for ecosystem service benefits via a conservation fee in the Tambopata National Reserve in Peru. We also interviewed eight tour operators about their perceptions of the proposed fee. The average stated WTP was 15 USD. Sixty-six percent of tourists stated they would pay 10 USD or more, which, if actually paid, would have resulted in 318,000 USD for park management in 2015. Most respondents stated they would pay an additional fee if it supported biodiversity conservation or local ecosystem services, such as water, but less than 10% of tourists were motivated by carbon sequestration as a reason to pay the fee. Most tour operators supported the additional fee. Our findings suggest that tourists are willing to pay higher fees to support conservation but that interest in paying for additional ecosystem services from parks may not extend to global and intangible benefits such as carbon sequestration.     

Sustainable Ecotourism in Amazonia: Evaluation of Six Sites in Southeastern Peru

It is widely assumed that ecotourism offers sustainable development opportunities in under‐developed countries, but little is known about the variables contributing to differential sustainability of multiple ecotourism ventures within a geographic region. This investigation compared differences among rainforest ecotourism sites in Tambopata, Amazonian Peru. These rainforest lodges act as stewards of the surrounding habitat. Different histories and philosophies regarding tourism resulted in varied levels of economic, social and ecological sustainability. This study quantitatively examines the differential sustainability of multiple ecotourism sites in a small geographic region. Tourism in Tambopata has a potential for sustainability of local communities and natural resources. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social-ecological factors influencing tourist satisfaction in three ecotourism lodges in the southeastern Peruvian Amazon

Analysing the factors that influence visitor satisfaction is critical for the appropriate management of tourism, particularly in nature tourism enterprises, which are expected to contribute to biodiversity conservation and the development of local people. In this paper, we investigate the effect of different socio-economic and ecological variables, as well as tourist-operation related factors, on the overall satisfaction of tourists visiting three Amazonian lodges in Peru. We found three typologies of tourists, differing by several socio-economic and cultural factors, and by their motivations. The quality of the lodge was the factor that had the largest influence on overall satisfaction. Only one type of tourists (“true ecotourists”) showed a positive relation between their overall satisfaction and ecological features such as the species observed or cultural features such as operation of the lodge by native communities using local guides. Implications for management are discussed in terms of the potential of nature tourism to contribute to sustainable development in the Peruvian Amazon.