Economic valuation of recreational resources in rural area

Quantitative studies on economic value of resources in rural area are carried out by determining the benefits gained by the tourists using the resources at the site. The value then can be used to imply the importance of conservation of resources to the communities. As many rural tourism destinations depend on the natural resources to be the main product of the tourism development, failure to take measures to conserve the natural resources in rural areas may cause overuse and sometime leading to irreversible damage. An alternative way to determine the value of resources is by using the travel cost method (TCM) which is an environmental valuation technique. TCM is site specific. Modification to the basic travel cost model (TCM) will account for other factors that may influence the demand for the rural tourism resources. The benefit from resources will be measured through the determination of a recreation demand curve for a particular site using the concept of consumer surplus. Hence, this paper intends to highlight the usefulness of economic valuation for a sustainable rural tourism setting and the biases of basic TCM which in turn induces the need for a modified TCM to obtain a perfect measure of the value of resources to tourist

Demand model of international visitors to the Kilim Karst Geoforest Park, Langkawi : application of ITCM model

Kilim Karst Geoforest Park in Langkawi offers rural tourism attractions to the visitors. The rural tourism demand model of international visitors to the site can be developed using the non-market valuation techniques. One of the common techniques is using the revealed preference technique, which is the Travel Cost Model (TCM). There have been various modifications made to the basic TCM developed by Clawson 1959. Modification of the basic TCM takes into account other factors that may shift the demand of visitors. The individual travel cost model (ITCM) has been employed in the research. Thus, the main objective of this article is to develop the rural tourism demand model for the park using the individual travel cost model (ITCM). In addition, the basic TCM model is estimated to determine the consumer surplus value of the international visitors to the park. Structured questionnaire and face-to-face data collection method are employed to obtain the primary data from 330 international visitors using the convenient sampling technique. Poisson regression analysis has been conducted to estimate the basic TCM model. The finding for ITCM shows that the consumer surplus value per trip for the Langkawi model €6993 is greater than for the Kilim models (€1437 and €633) for the Poisson regression analysis

Total economic value of ecosystem services in Malaysia: a review

Southeast Asia contains the world’s third largest tropical forests, currently experiencing a high deforestation rate, thus highlighting the need for conservation efforts. The full potential of ecosystem services in tropical forests has never been completely quantified in economic or monetary terms. This potential value is accessible by extraction of readily available information in both market and non-market terms. As such, an economic valuation approach is capable to estimate the full range of an ecosystem services benefits provided by a tropical forest. This paper reviews the suitable indicators pertinent to a Total Economic Value (TEV) of tropical forests to propose a conceptual framework for the TEV of Tropical Forest in Southeast Asia. The failure to impute price on ecosystems services in tropical forests would result in a misguided policy and the society would be in detrimental as a result of misallocation of resources

Exploring economic valuation and impact of rural tourism

Economic valuation studies can be used to determine conservation values of resources to consumers. Since rural tourism development depends greatly on the availability of natural resources, an economic valuation of natural resources can be used to gauge sustainability of rural tourism in the future. In addition, economic impact studies on rural tourism development will convey the effect of the development on employment, business and government revenue in the region. The findings from these studies could be beneficial to policy makers in terms of making appropriate decisions on the conservation of natural resources and rural tourism development in Malaysia. There are various methods used by researchers for economic valuation and economic impact studies. Hence this paper intends to bring to light the function of these studies in the development of rural tourism. Besides, the paper also highlights the usefulness of these studies for policy makers, state governments and park managers in terms of making appropriate plans for the development of tourism particularly in rural areas. Finally, it intends to explore various methods used in these studies by researchers

An analysis of prognostic factors associated with recurrence in the treatment of atypical meningiomas

AbstractBackgroundThere has been increased reporting of atypical meningioma (grade II) since the World Health Organization reclassification in 2000, and the use of postoperative radiation therapy (RT) in the treatment of these tumors is controversial. We evaluated patients treated at our institution to identify patient subgroups with increased risk of recurrence that may benefit from adjuvant RT.Methods and materialsWe retrospectively assessed 50 patients treated for World Health Organization grade II meningiomas between March 2000 and February 2013. Sex, race, age of diagnosis, tumor location, performance status, size of tumor, MIB-1 index, resection status, and RT were recorded. Patient follow-up, recurrence, and vital status were measured to assess 3-year overall survival (OS) and recurrence free survival (RFS).ResultsThe median follow-up was 37 months (range, 1-148). Female sex was associated with decreased RFS compared with male sex (86.1% vs 100%, P = .047). Subtotal resection demonstrated both inferior RFS (67.5% vs 96.6%, P = .025) and OS compared with gross total resection (70.0% vs 100%, P < .001). Tumors >4.5 cm had worse RFS than tumors ≤4.5 cm (85.4% vs 100%, P = .025). Patient OS was lower in tumors with an MIB-1 index >5% than ≤5% (89.7% vs 100%, P = .008). Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group 2-4 negatively impacted OS relative to patients with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group 0-1 (66.7% vs 100%, P < .001).ConclusionsSignificantly higher rates of recurrence occurred in female sex, subtotal resection, and tumors larger than 4.5 cm. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and determine whether patients without any of these risk factors can undergo surgical resection without adjuvant radiation therapy

Fish hobbyists’ willingness to donate for wild fighting fish (Betta livida) conservation in Klang Valley

Betta livida is an endangered endemic species of wild fighting fish affected by habitat degradation and exploitation. Despite this concern, the literature on the conservation of wild betta is negligible. Conservation is a non-use value, whereas the species itself is a use-value because they are sought after in the ornamental fish trade business. Therefore, the contingent valuation method (CVM) was applied in this study to establish the monetary value for species conservation by determining hobbyists’ willingness to donate (WTD) for conservation. Fish hobbyists are the most prominent backbone of the industry and are the most acquainted with the targeted species. Hence, hobbyists’ knowledge, perceptions and attitude towards species conservation have also been explored and weighed against the WTD. Purposive sampling was employed with a total of 150 respondents in Klang Valley. The findings show that the WTD was influenced by double-bound CVM, age (AGE) and hobbyists who owned the species (OWNB). In contrast, knowledge, perceptions and attitudes were not significant. Using probit regression analysis, hobbyists’ WTD for species conservation was MYR 9.04 annually. The survey also revealed concern for species that are wild-caught by hobbyists. Hence, the results of this study offer preliminary insights into the WTD for wild betta and local freshwater fish conservation in Malaysia

An Analysis of Patient Characteristics and Clinical Outcomes in Primary Pulmonary Sarcoma

INTRODUCTION: Literature concerning primary pulmonary sarcomas (PPS) is limited to small case series. This study examines, in a large cohort, the clinical characteristics and therapeutic strategies of PPS and their impact on overall survival (OS). METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (1988-2008). Eligible patients had primary PPS and underwent local therapy. Survival estimates were obtained using the Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox regression model. OS of PPS patients were compared with a cohort of 10,909 patients with extremity soft-tissue sarcomas. RESULTS: The cohort included 365 PPS patients with a median follow-up of 21 months. Fifty-five percent of the patients had large tumors (>5 cm), 76% were high-grade, and 16% had node-positive disease. Seventy-five percent of the cohort underwent surgery alone, 14% underwent surgery and radiation therapy, and 11% underwent radiation therapy alone. Multivariate analysis showed reduced OS for patients with tumors more than 5 cm (hazard ratio [HR] 1.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.25-2.19), high tumor grade (HR 3.1, 95% CI 1.26-3.62), and unresectable disease (HR 2.6, 95% CI 1.76-3.88. The 5-year OS for the cohort of pulmonary sarcomas versus sarcomas of the extremities was 35% versus 71% (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: This large study examining PPS patients reveals a high rate of nodal involvement and a markedly worse OS than patients with extremity soft-tissue sarcomas. Thus, given the poor overall prognosis, it is recommended that PPS patients undergo a thorough mediastinal nodal evaluation to rule out locoregional metastasis and proceed with aggressive treatment

Carbon stock and sequestration valuation in a mixed dipterocarp forest of Malaysia

Forest degradation and deforestation are some of the major global concerns as they can reduce the forest carbon stock and sequestration capacity. However, the carbon stock and sequestration potential in a mixed dipterocarp tropical forest remains unclear due to a lack of information. This study was carried out on the carbon stock and estimated its economic value to justify its conservation. Six plots were established in the Endau Rompin National Park, Johor and subplots measuring 50 × 20 m were established in each plot. All trees greater than 15 cm DBH (diameter at breast height) were identified and the parameters measured included tree height and diameter. The aboveground carbon (AGC) content was about 222 Mg(C) ha-1, belowground carbon (BGC) was 53 Mg (C) ha-1 and it was 6 Mg (C) ha-1 for other components. In total, the carbon stock amounted to 281 Mg (C) ha-1. On the other hand, the total CO2 sequestrated in the mixed dipterocarp forest amounted to 1,040 t CO2 ha-1. The carbon value was estimated at RM32,240 t CO2 ha-1 or $7,280 t CO2 ha-1. Therefore, the study found that the dipterocarp forest should be preserved to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions

Economic valuation using Travel Cost Method (TCM) IN Kilim Karst Geoforest Park, Langkawi, Malaysia

Kilim Karst Geoforest Park is a special conservation area within a Permanent Forest Reserve (PFR), consisting of limestone landscape, an extensive mangrove forest system, beaches, coastal wetlands and islands. However, the limestone, forest reserve and mangrove areas have been identified as environmentally sensitive, and are under threat by development activities. Currently, there is a lack of information on the economic benefits of the geoforest park, in terms of services. A demand model of international visitors to the Kilim Karst Geoforest Park (KKGP) was derived and compared the benefit estimated using both travel cost and consumer surplus adjustment techniques. The Travel Cost Method (TCM) has been employed to derive the demand model, whilst the concept of consumer surplus was used for value determination and comparison. The findings showed that the benefit estimated using travel cost adjustments, based on satisfaction attained, is euro288,000,000, and number of hours spent in the park is euro141,000,000, which was greater than that for the consumer surplus adjustment based on satisfaction attained euro278,640,000 and number of hours spent euro123,840,000. The study proposed the travel cost adjustment technique findings rather than the consumer surplus adjustment technique, since it was based on specific KKGP model estimation. In conclusion, the findings on the monetary value of the geoforest park will alert the community regarding the importance of conserving KKGP

Profile and characteristics of the visits of international visitors to the Kilim Karst Geoforest Park, Langkawi

Kilim Karst Geoforest Park offers rural tourism attractions to visitors from various countries in the world. The information collected from visitors to the park allows categorization to be done on groups of people who visited the park, and such information can be utilized for marketing purposes. Therefore, the objectives of this paper are to identify the profile and the characteristics of visits by international visitors. Besides, it is also to measure their level of satisfaction on the quality of the facilities and resources and their willingness to pay for the entrance fee of the park. Structured questionnaire and face-to-face data collection method were employed to obtain primary data from 330 international visitors. The raw data is presented in a simpler form using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. The findings suggest that majority of the respondents have high level of education, they earn less than RM6,000, they are first time visitors, they are originate from the European continent, and they work in the private sector. Next, 66% of the respondents did not use any tour package either from home or at Langkawi. Willingness to pay (WTP) for an entrance fee is low (less than RM40) although they are satisfied with the resources available at the park. The findings would be useful for the Langkawi Development authority (LADA) in making decisions concerning marketing purposes of the park