the economic valuation of the proposed ... - Nature Uganda

The basis to estimating the annual value of ecotourism
is the consumer surplus, the difference between the
price tourists are willing to pay and the price they
actually paid. Naidoo & Adamowicz (2005) found that
an entrance of US$47 would maximise tourism value
compared to the amount foreign and foreign residents
of Uganda are currently charged (US$5) to visit Mabira
CFR (Naidoo & Adamowicz 2005). This dramatic under-
valuation of the willingness to pay of tourist visitors is
consistent with results from other tropical areas and
suggests much room for improvement in entrance fee
policy (Naidoo & Adamowicz 2005).
From the above, the consumer surplus for foreigners
and foreign residents is US$42 per tourist. In the absence
of data on the local tourists’ willingness-to-pay and
considering their low income levels, this study assumes
a zero consumer surplus pertaining to local tourists. For
foreigners and foreign residents US$ 42 or UShs 71,400
(at exchange rate of UShs 1700 to the US$) – was used.
Furthermore, using the 2005/06 data for foreigners and
foreign residents of 1,989 tourists, the annual value of
ecotourism for the whole Mabira CFR was estimated
at UShs 142,014,600/year. Mabira CFR is about 30,000
ha in size and it would be incorrect to allocate all the
annual value lost due to the impact area of 7186 ha.
Hence, the proportionate share of ecotourism benefits
lost was estimated as a fraction of the value for Mabira
as a whole (that is, UShs 142,014,600/year x 7186/30000)
giving a value of UShs 34,083,504/year. Subsequently
the present value of the ecotourism benefits foregone
translates into Ushs 284,029,200 (or US$167,076).
This estimate must be considered a very conservative
one and demonstrates the room available for ecotourism
to grow in Mabira CFR. It is quite possible that once the
planned and the on-going ecotourism development
projects are completed there will be a dramatic increase
in tourist numbers and Ugandan tourists will also begin
to register significant consumer’s surpluses. These
developments are likely, therefore, to propel the annual
value of ecotourism closer to the $360/ha mark which
was registered in Madagascar.
F. CARBON STORAGE AND SEQUESTRATION
When a forest is under threat of conversion, it is important
to distinguish two values. The first is the value of the
carbon stored in a standing forest that is close to ‘carbon
balance’. The second is the value of carbon sequestered
in a growing forest. In other words the carbon storage
value is the value held in the growing stock or standing
timber volume. The sequestration value is the value of
the amount of additional carbon absorbed by the forest
as it adds more volume annually.
Brown and Pearce (1994) provide some benchmark
figures for carbon content and loss for tropical forest
conversion situations (Table 21). A closed primary forest
has 283tC/ha of carbon and if converted to permanent
agriculture would release 220tC/ha (283tC/ha less 63tC/
The Economic Valuation of the Proposed Degazettement of Mabira CFR | 2011 43
ha).
Table 20: Carbon content and loss for tropical forest conversion
Forest type
Forest Original
Carbon (tC/ha)
Permanent Agriculture
Carbon (tC/ha)
Closed primary forest 283 /a 63 /c -220
Closed secondary forest 194 /b 63 -131
Open forest 115 63 -52
/ a – 116 soil, 167 biomass; / b – 84 soil, 110 biomass; / c – mainly soil
Source: Brown and Pearce (1994)
Quantity of Carbon Released by
conversion (tC/ha)
For closed secondary and open forests, the corresponding figures are 131tC/ha and 52tC/ha, respectively. A large