Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

VALUING RECREATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS OF BUTTERFLY PARKS IN INDIA

P.G. Chengappa, C.M. Devika and Karl M. Rich

Abstract

This paper investigates the recreational and educational benefits of butterfly parks by conducting an onsite visitor intercept survey at two multiple recreational public parks and a stand-alone private butterfly park. The estimates of Travel Cost Method and the truncated Poisson regression model reveals a substantially high consumer surplus vis-à-vis the current cost incurred in visiting these butterfly parks. The value visitors placed on the butterfly parks was significantly influenced by their participation in nature based recreational sites. The results indicate that urban dwellers dominated the visitation at the butterfly parks with only a few people visiting from rural areas. Improving the quality of park in terms of species diversity, effective conservation education and providing amenities for recreation were indicated by the visitors; they wish to spend more time if the quality of the park is improved.