Non-timber Values from Planted Forests: Recreation in Whakarewarewa Forest

Authors: James A. Turner, Bhubaneswor Dhakal, Richard Yao *, Tim Barnard, Colin Maunder
Publication: New Zealand Journal of Forestry, Volume N.Z.J.For. 2010, Issue N.Z.J.For. 55(4) 2011, pp 24-31, Jan 2011
Publisher: New Zealand Institute of Forestry

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Abstract: Recreation is an important environmental service provided by many planted forests. The value of this service, however, is not well known. For policy makers and land managers to make informed decisions on planted forest management for multiple benefits, they need to recognise the value of the environmental services provided. The objective of our study was to estimate the economic value that mountain bikers and walkers place on recreation in a planted forest on the fringe of Rotorua; Whakarewarewa forest. We used the travel cost method to estimate the economic value of the existing recreational use of the forest. The choice experiment method was used to elicit the economic value that users place on changing different features of the forest, such as adding more trees species and decreasing the proportion of radiata pine in the landscape. The data for the study were collected from face-to-face interviews of 709 forest users.

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