Ecotourism as a Means of Conserving Wetlands

The Nariva Swamp on the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean is being degraded due to increasing human activity. However, its conservation is desirable, as it is an internationally recognized wetland. The study examined an ecotourism project, with an emphasis on community participation, as a conservation approach to the Swamp, via benefit–cost analysis, where the benefits of conservation were measured by contingent valuation. Contingent valuation showed that the residents of Trinidad were willing to pay an average of $56 for conserving the Swamp. The analysis also showed that ecotourism represents an economically feasible use of ecologically fragile resources of this wetland.