APPLICATION OF CHOICE MODELLING ON MANGROVE FOREST VALUATION IN WEST LOMBOK, INDONESIA
Abstract
A mangrove forest in West Nusa Tenggara is one of tourist destination that attracts many
local and domestic tourists thanks to their natural beauty. In addition to its natural beauty, this
place is also used as mangrove conservation and education-based tourism. However, there were
various critical statuses in West Nusa Tenggara which damaged. The critical status is also spread in
various regions on the island of Lombok, among others in the area of West Lombok Regency. The
loss of mangrove forest occurs was because mangrove forests often are converted in order to
generate directly marketable products, such as aquaculture that might lead to massive economic
losses for the surrounding community. To make efficient resource allocation choices, decision
makers need a framework to estimate the non-use values that might be held by the community for
mangrove forest conservation. Non-market valuation techniques can be used for this purpose, by
applying a choice modelling (CM), appears to hold some promise because it can be used to model
complex situations and to frame choices consistent with ‘real life’ choices. In this paper, a CM
method applied for assessing the values that the community and tourists hold for mangrove forest
conservation in West Lombok, Indonesia.