ECONOMIC AND MARKET VIABILITY OF SCIENTIFIC ECOTOURISM RELATED TO THE JAGUAR IN A VÁRZEA AREA IN CENTRAL AMAZONIA

Abstract

Ecotourism can be an efficient strategy to generate income for local communities and conservation. Scientific tourism is defined under the same premises as ecotourism, but its objectives are focused on research. In this study, the creation of a package tour for jaguar-related scientific ecotourism in the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve (MSDR) was proposed. The objectives were to analyze the economic and market viability for this package through a cash flow analysis for 18 different scenarios. Questionnaires were sent to two groups titled technical-scientific and ecotourism. Nine scenarios had the same daily rate for the 10 year period, and the other nine had daily rates increase annually in accordance with the mean IPCA for the previous three years. For each scenario, the Net Present Value (NPV) was calculated. Ninety-two questionnaires were returned: 47 from the technical-scientific group, and 45 from the ecotourism group. Jaguar-related scientific ecotourism activities should be related to scientific research, contemplation, and culture, and not just focused on the species. Ecotourists also value low-impact activities, information, and benefits to the communities and to research. For the economically viable scenarios, sharing of profits with the communities and with research was proposed.