Judul: Economic valuation of nature tourism at buffer zone of arfak mountains nature Reserve in Manokwari Regency West Papua Province
Abstrak: The utilization of environmental services sectors such as nature tourism in Papua (Papua and West Papua Provinces) has not been a priority in local development activities. Meanwhile, Papua has many potential of nature, from marine until the mountains. One of them is the uniqueness and beauty of the Arfak Mountains Nature Reserve (CAPA) located in the Manokwari Regency. The development of nature tourism activities in the buffer zone (BZ) of CAPA has been initiated by one of the local Non Governmental Organization (NGO) since 2009. Based on data from the NGO, BZ of CAPA has become a destination for foreign tourists. Although it has become a nature destination for foreign tourists, both of the managers, the central and the local government have not made the region a tourist destination. One of the reasons why stakeholders do not think of the importance of developing BZ of CAPA is the economic value of the region is still unknown. This research is aimed to (1) identify the objects of nature tourist attractions (ODTWA) which have been developed and have the potential to be developed in the BZ of CAPA, (2) determine the economic value of nature tourism in the BZ of CAPA, (3) determine the effects of the development of nature tourism to the socio-economic conditions of the local communities. This research which was generally conducted in the BZ of CAPA is expected to become the consideration for the management in developing these areas. The method used in this research is descriptive with analysis of qualitative and also quantitative data. Phases of the research are literature study, direct observation, and then interviews to obtain expected data to answer the purposes of this study. Based on the results of primary and secondary data processed, it is known that the main natural tourisn object in BZ of CAPA is bird watching and tracking. While the potential of nature tourism which can be developed according to the conditions of BZ of CAPA region are cultural tourism, outbound, and camping ground. By using travel cost method with zoning system (based on the origin of visitors), there are 7 zones of visitors/tourists who visit in BZ of CAPA, they are Manokwari, Sorong, Jayapura, Ambon, Makassar, Jakarta, and Denpasar. Stages of the calculation shows that, travel costs for nature tourism is appropriate with the laws of economy. The larger travel costs occurred, the less rate of visits in a location. Calculation result shows that, the economic value of nature tourism in BZ of CAPA is Rp3 138 386 278.50. Development of nature tourism in BZ of CAPA conducted by one of the Non Governmental Organization (NGO) since 2009, generally brings positive socioeconomic impacts on conditions for local people. Social condition known has not changed with developed activities of nature attraction in Kampung Kwau, both aspects of social norms and values in society, social relations, public infrastructure and public health. While for the economic condition of the community in Kampung Kwau, factors influencing the income from the nature tourism is the gender and type of involvement in the activities of nature tourism.
Keyword: Economic valuation, nature tourism, buffer zone, Arfak Mountains Nature Reserve, social economic effect