Economia e meio ambiente: valoração de atrações turísticas naturais do município de Laranjeiras do Sul/PR

Abstract

The research theme is the environmental valuation, through the willingness to pay, of the tourist attractions of the municipality of Laranjeiras do Sul. Thus, the research problem presented the following question: what is the willingness to pay, on the part of potential consumers, for the attractions natural tourist attractions in the municipality of Laranjeiras do Sul, Paraná? The general objective of the present work was to apply the contingent valuation method, to obtain the environmental valuation, based on the willingness to pay, of the natural tourist attractions of the municipality of Laranjeiras do Sul/PR, using as a sample members of the academic community of UFFS (Federal University of the Southern Border). To reach the main objective it was necessary: to bring to the work a survey on the environmental-economic valuation in the perspectives of ecological and environmental economics; it was also necessary to seek data to qualify the resources to be valued; and finally, to propose a valuation, verifying the willingness to pay by a sample of the academic community of UFFS, in the campus of Laranjeiras do Sul. In order to reach the research proposal, it was necessary to collect primary and secondary data. According to the order in which the work was prepared, the use of secondary data was initially necessary, mainly to make the theoretical contribution to the work on economics and environmental resources. At this stage, research was carried out on the way in which ecological and environmental economics theories brought evaluative methods to deal with environmental problems. The most prominent environmental economics in the work, among other methods, presents the contingent assessment. This makes inquiries to a certain population about their willingness to pay or receive for changes in certain resources. To apply this method in the research, it was necessary to prepare and apply a survey, which, in addition to questioning the monetary valuation, asked about the socioeconomic profile, and the position of respondents on issues related to the environment. Thus, the research was applied to a sample of seventy individuals, consisting of students, professors and administrative technicians from the aforementioned campus. The result obtained evaluates the resources in one thousand and twelve reais and fifty cents in willingness to pay of the seventy respondents to avoid changes in resources similar to those presented, with an average in terms of willingness to pay of fourteen reais and forty-six cents for each person surveyed.