應用旅遊成本法分析宜蘭縣英士、玉蘭及崙埤社區的遊憩效益

Due to its plentiful characteristics in physical and cultural landscapes, the upper Lanyang stream watershed becomes one of the famous regions for recreational use in Taiwan. Many local communities also positively involve in leisure and recreational industry. In this paper, we applied the travel cost method to evaluate the non-market economic benefits for recreational use in the upper Lanyang stream watershed, especially focusing on the Ying-Shih, Yu-Lan, and Lun-Pi communities. By the in-site questionnaire and the negative binomial count data model, we estimated the recreational demand and economic values in the study areas. Results showed that the average annual recreational demand per person in the Ying-Shih, Yu-Lan, and Lun-Pi were 0.45, 0.62, and 0.86 times, respectively. In addition, the average annual consumer surplus per person in the Ying-Shih, Yu-Lan, and Lun-Pi were NT$ 2,465.71, NT$ 3,407.66, and NT$ 4,703.17, respectively. On the basis of this research, we found that these three communities in the upper Lanyang stream watershed have the advantages with high recreational benefits. Therefore, leisure and recreational industry could be considered as one of directions for community development when Taiwan Forestry Bureau continues to implement the community forestry program in the future.