Estimating potential impacts of a change in river quality on the tourism value of Kruger National Park: An application of travel cost, contingent and conjoint valuation methods

Abstract

Development and resource allocation decision processes are increasingly under pressure to take environmental values into account in order to reach optimal economic outcomes. In South Africa new techniques will be needed to incorporate environmental values into environmental impact assessment and in the allocation of water resources under the new National Water Act (1998), both of which require the comparison of alternative scenarios with varying impacts on the environment. This study on the tourism value of rivers in the Crocodile Catchment is the first case study to develop methods for incorporating the economic values of the goods and services provided by functioning aquatic ecosystems into such decision processes. Rivers within the Kruger National Park (KNP) will be affected by water usage in the portions of their catchment areas upstream of the park boundary.

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