The value of outdoor recreation in forest recreational areas in Malaysia
2010
Azman A. Rahman, MARA Univ. of Technology (UiTM), 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor (Malaysia). Faculty of Architecture, Manage and Survey | Shahruddin Mohd Ismail, Kebangsaan Malaysia Univ. (UKM), 43600 UKM, Bangi, Selangor (Malaysia). Inst. for Environment and Development (LESTARI)
Currently, there are 130 forest areas in Peninsular Malaysia designated for public recreational use; these are known as Forest Recreational Areas or Amenity Forest under the National Forestry Act, 1984. The main focus of the establishment of Forest Recreational Areas (FRAs) is to provide suitable areas for the public to enjoy the forest environment. The demand for forest recreation in Malaysia was realized as early as 1965. Since the establishment, FRA was focused on the need to provide suitable area for public to enjoy and carry out recreational activities. With the present emphasis on ecotourism, many nature and recreational areas are in great demand. To attract public to recreational forest, it requires necessary infrastructural as well as recreational facilities such as camp sites, toilets, children playground and forest trails. Facilities in the park are found to be essential in satisfying the needs of Visitors, inadequate provision of facilities and services rendered can lead to congestion and overuse of the facilities and lacking of services that may reduce the visitors` satisfaction. Recognition of the concern and need of the public in recreation has led to a new dimension in developing the forest recreational areas. The paper will provide some useful findings with respect to the recreational value of the visitors and to determine willingness to-pay for the facilities, services and resources. Contingent Valuation technique was used to measure visitors willingness-to-pay (WTP) on how they perceive about the forest as to be sustained for future uses.
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