The Ingenieur Vol 57 January-March 2014 The Ingenieur Vol 57 January-March 2014 | Página 68

FEATURE

INGENIEUR

Placing a
Monetary Value
to Angling in River
Waters
By
• Prof Dr Mohd
Shahwahid
Haji Othman,
Dean Faculty of
Economics &
Management,
Universiti Putra
Malaysia.
mohdshahwahid@
gmail.com
• Poh Lye Yong,
Principal Assistant
Director (Forest
Economics),
Department
of Forestry,
Peninsular
Malaysia
• Zulnaidah Abd
Manan, Assistant
Director (Forest
Economics),
Department
of Forestry,
Peninsular
Malaysia

6
66

The authors introduce the concepts of Trip Generation Function
and Consumer Surplus to place a value on recreational fishing in
rivers. They study the Pahang River and the profile its avid anglers
to come out with a value.
Rivers, whose water flows are regulated by forest catchments located
upstream, are a complex and biologically diverse ecosystem. They
generate various benefits to the community. Some of these benefits
are directly attributable to the environmental characteristics, while
others can be ascribed to their cultural significance. Among others,
these benefits include natural products like fishes, community water
supply and storage, flow regulation and flood control, prevention of
saltwater intrusion, coastal and riverine erosion control, sediment
and nutrient traps, toxicant removals, water transport, and
recreational and tourism benefits.
The above contributions of river waters to society are a fact but
their values are not very much known. In a world where decisions on
land uses are very much influenced by the monetary contributions,
efforts at placing the financial worth of the services offered