Willingness to Pay for Conservation: A Study in Serinsim Substation, Kinabalu Geopark, Sabah

Abstract

Abstract This study aims to examine the willingness to pay (WTP) of visitors to pay an entrance fee for conservation purposes in Serinsim Substation, Kinabalu Geopark. The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) was put into the application as the elicitation method. A total of 161 respondents were distributed using convenience sampling; however, 11 questionnaires were not usable because respondents did not completely answer them. An open-ended eliciting method was adopted and multiple linear regression was used to analyse the contingent valuation method analysis. The result shows that a total of 113 (75.3%) respondents are willing to pay more for the admission fee if the conservation fee were to be increased, while 37 (24.7%) respondents are unwilling to pay more. In addition, age and frequency of visits are the independent variables that have the greatest impact on visitors’ willingness to make. Admission fees can be increased to generate more revenue for Serinsim Substation’s efforts to conserve resources.