The Ingenieur Vol 57 January-March 2014 The Ingenieur Vol 57 January-March 2014 | Page 72

INGENIEUR v = 12.3643 - 0.0805 tc + 0.0046y + ∈ (i) (3.88)*** (-2.52)*** (1.73)* R2=18.2% F statistic = 3.34** ***,**,* respectively significant at 1%, 5% and 10% respectively where v is the total number of trips the respondent has taken to the site in the last year. tc is the travel cost of the individual to the site y is the income of the individual ∈ is the error term the mean travel cost. It was set that the choke travel cost was RM250 and its mean was RM50. A number of observations can be made about these estimates. Consumer surplus estimate from linear functional form was computed to be RM83.20 per trip. The high estimate obtained is due to the enjoyment from an active participatory activity whereby the fish catches themselves have a commercial value. Given that an angler has an average trip of 13.8 per month, this suggests that an average annual trip of 165.6 could be made. This implies that for an angler, the economic value obtained is estimated to be RM13,778. To obtain the aggregate consumer surplus generated from the angling activity along the Pahang River waters that have been regulated by upstream forest catchments, requires information on total number of trips made by angling enthusiasts for the year. This estimate is not available. If we assume that the number of anglers frequenting Pahang River waters ranged between 1,000 to 3,000 people, then it was estimated that the values could range from RM13.8 m to RM41.3 m per year. Implications from Acknowledging Value Of Angling in River Waters The estimated value of the angling services provided by the Pahang River waters could serve 6 70 VOL 57 JANUARY-MARCH 2014 VOL 55 JUNE 2013 as an indicator of the flow of benefits that rivers and their upstream natural forest catchments could generate. The value of protecting sufficient forest reserves will help policy makers to manage this resource optimally. Frequently, policy makers find it difficult to make management decisions because they do not know the value of river waters as an angling attraction. For example, they must decide whether selected forest catchments should continue to be retained as forest reserves or clearcut to allow other forms of project development. When access to the fishing site can be regulated, the consumer surplus computed can be a potential revenue earner. Fees to the recreational angling area could be collected from each angler to be equal to the maximum amount that each would pay for such access which is equivalent to the estimated consumer surplus. In the event that the Government intends to charge a user fee for engaging in angling at a particular site, the average consumer surplus per trip estimated could be used as a guide on the maximum fee structure. However, implementation of the user fees requires market acceptance and sensitivity analysis on trip rates. Furthermore, problems related to the inability to check on visitors’ access to the site also exist. The difficulties are specially so along the Pahang River waters that are long and have multiple points of entry.