Multicriteria potential mapping for Mangrove ecotourism in Batu Ampar, West Kalimantan

Abstract

Mangrove ecosystems provide a wide variety of vital ecological and economic ecosystem services to coastal communities, including ecotourism. Batu Ampar, where one of the most extensive mangrove forests lies, is encouraged to develop mangrove ecotourism. This study aims to determine the priority for ecotourism development in Batu Ampar districts by using the potential map based on the multiple aspects from tourism, environment, legal, and landscape value. This research's multicriteria use includes Natural Tourism Attraction, Mangrove Tourism Suitability, Biophysics Vulnerability, Landscape Values, and Spatial Policy, and weighted overlay based on Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) score. The results indicate that by using multicriteria for the mangrove ecotourism potential, 18% is the high potential area, 30% is moderate potential, 22.6%, and the rest are not potential. The high potential area should become the priority of ecotourism development in Batu Ampar, situated in five villages: Batu Ampar, Telok Nibong, Nipah Panjang, Tanjung Harapan, and Sungai Kerawang.