Applying Ostrom’s common resource management principles to analyze institutional factors for the failure of the volunteer tourism program for green sea turtles conservation in Lanyu (Orchid Island), Taiwan

ABSTRACT

Chelonia mydas (green sea turtles, GST) in Lanyu (Orchid Island), Taiwan, affect the behavioral evolution of land-based organisms in Lanyu, and they are also important for the study of evolutionary biology. However, threats to their survival are increasing. To protect GST, conservation organizations have recruited volunteer tourists to assist in the implementation of a GST conservation program. However, the volunteer tourism program for GST conservation did not achieve the expected results, and it even caused serious social conflicts and threatened the survival of GST. In this study, the volunteers and the local Tao people were interviewed to understand the views of both parties, and the interview data were analyzed using Ostrom’s common resources management principles. The results showed that wo mechanisms led to the neglect: the appropriate authorities in the Taiwan government did not provide sufficient funds, and the government was unable to integrate and coordinate the conservation activities. The research results suggest that government authorities should provide sufficient funds and communication resources to assist conservation organizations in making use of local ecological conservation mechanisms and that conservation organizations should report the results of volunteer tourism programs to the Tao people and assist in cleaning the beach.

KEYWORDS:

• Volunteer tourism
• Ostrom’s common resources management principles
• failure of the market incentive
• green sea turtle conservation
• Tao
• cultural taboos

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Mr. Keng Kun Leung for being a research assistant in the research project. Mr. Leung helped the research group to conduct in-depth interviews in Lanyu as well as record the data. Information drawn from the research projects was used in Mr. Leung’s thesis and Liu and Leung (2019).

The authors would like to thank Tao people and the conservation workers who participated in the survey.

The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful and constructive comments that greatly contributed to improving the final version of the paper, and would like to thank the Editors for their support during the review process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Tzu-Ming Liu is currently conducting research related to stakeholders’ understanding and involvement in the sustainable tourism development process. His research interests include spatial econometric analysis, tourism demand, sustainable tourism development, indigenous community development, and impacts of climate change on tourism.

Additional information

Funding

The author gratefully acknowledges financial support from Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, under [grant number # 101-2621-M-002-032, NSC 102-2621-M-002-027, MOST 103-2621-M-002-019, and MOST 105-2633-H-110 -003] – programs.