“Resource Rich and Income Poor”: Payment for Access to Protected Areas in Nepal

“Resource Rich and Income Poor”: Payment for Access to Protected Areas in Nepal

This paper explores the economic valuation of protected areas in Nepal, specifically focusing on two recently published willingness to pay (WTP) studies conducted in the Annapurna region (Baral et al. 2008; Nepal 2007) and a contingent valuation study by the authors exploring tourists’ willingness to pay for access to Chitwan National Park (CNP) (Cook & Bardecki 2012) (Table 2). In each case the focus of the research was on foreign tourists.