Social Sciences
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Item The Role of Spice Gardens in Agro-tourism: A Case Study in Mathale District of Sri Lanka(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Thilakarathna, M.P.S.Agro-tourism has been defined as a process which is attracting visitors and travellers to cultivated areas with educational and recreational aims. As a type of eco-tourism, agro-tourism is one of the fastest growing industry and focus on environmental conservation and community development. Since the ancient times, Sri Lankan social context has been dominated by the agriculture related practices. Spice gardens or herbal gardens can be identified as an agro-forestry method practiced near Kandyan home gardens. At present, spice gardens have been established for commercial purposes especially to attract tourists. Therefore, this study was conducted in areas under the Naula and Mathale Divisional Secretariats of Mathale District. The objectives of this paper were to find out the environmental friendly methods followed by the spice gardens, to examine the tourist satisfaction on spice gardens and to identify the barriers for the development of spice gardens. Primary data was collected from survey method as well as observations and interviews conducted in Nalanda, Madawala Ulpatha and Palapathwala. The total sample was 75 respondents including 15 spice garden owners, 25 spice garden workers and 35 foreign tourists. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS. Study results revealed that better soil conservation strategy, use of organic fertilizer, better waste management system, protection of threatened plants species, using the reuse concept, provide habitat to birds, variety of crop plantations and land use management and protection of biodiversity are major environmental conservation methods of spice gardens. Spice garden owners and workers attempts to maintain the garden in a sustainable manner for environmental conservation as well as tourist satisfaction. In the spice gardens, the tour guides explains to the tourists about the spice and herbal plants, indigenous and Ayurvedic medicine, Buddhist values, traditional agricultural equipment and Sri Lankan food culture. According to the study results, spice gardens are more popular among American (17.1%), Chinese (14.3%) and Russian tourists (14.3%). From the surveyed tourists, majority of them (42.9%) had come to visit spice gardens because of the interest to eco-tourism. Most of the tourists (60%) were satisfied about the services provided by the gardens. Lack of institutional support, high maintenance cost, difficulty to find out skilled human resource and no clear appreciation method from the government are major barriers for the development of spice gardens. Therefore, it is recommended to strengthen the relationship between relevant institutions and spice garden owners for the betterment of the industryItem Environmental values for Decision Making: A Review of Travel Cost Method Applications in Sri Lanka(University of Kelaniya, 2005) Kularathne, M.A.T.R.; Gunawardena, U.A.D.P.The travel cost method places a money value on recreational sites by estimating the costs of consuming the services of that place. Almost all the parks and protected areas of the country have been subjected to travel cost valuation exercises. However, majority of these studies lacks fundamental considerations of the method leading to questions on the validity of the provided estimates. The present paper reviews different applications of travel cost method in Sri Lanka and with a view of improving the accuracy of the estimates. For the review, the available travel cost studies have been screened with a view to identify the common problems inherent to these studies. After comparing 12 studies, the following has been recognized as the main problems: limited variables in the travel cost function, low R2 values and different consumer surpluses for similar recreational sites. The present review then selected five applications of travel cost method and compared the methodology adopted, statistical and analytical approaches, in detail against the state of the art. Travel cost studies of Hakkgala Botanical Garden, Sinharaja World Heritage site, Yala National Park, Wasgamuwa National Park, Udawaththekele Royal National Park have been used for the analysis. Results of the study showed that most of studies have not considered issues and biases that are common in the information gathering (time period, language, visitor type), defining and estimation of total travel cost, opportunity cost of time. Statistical validities of the estimated equations have given only low priority. Majority of the studies failed to address the most common shortcomings of the method. The presence of such problems means that the estimated values are either under or over estimates of the correct values of the recreational sites. It is recommended therefore to include a sensitivity analysis which includes the possible changes of the final estimates with regards to the variables mentioned above. However, it was obvious that errors could have been minimized if the proper sampling and the standard guidelines of the method had been adopted. If the consumer surplus values of recreational sites to be used in guiding decision making, it is extremely important that correct addressing of such issues and a set of guidelines regarding such issues are followed in order to improve the validity of the estimates.