Annex A

Carrying Capacity of Tayak Adventure and Natures Wildlife

(TANAW) Park
Carrying Capacity (CarCap)

Carrying capacity (CarCap) refers to the capacity of natural and human environments to
accommodate and absorb change without experiencing conditions of instability and
attendant degradation. In computing CarCap of ecotourism sites in or adjacent to protected
areas it is important to note that computation should be a continuing and regular process
because standard requirement and limiting factors, as well as products, services and
activities in ecotourism sites change every now and then. Hence recomputing is a must once
change in any above conditions occur.

Carrying capacity, as a planning tool, is important in many tourism areas, especially now that
they are experiencing threats due to anthropogenic interventions, biodiversity loss and
climate change. It ensures few and tolerable impacts on natural resources. There is a need to
determine the tourism capacity of a certain site to make its operation sustainable and
lasting. (A manual on computing carrying capacity of ecotourism sites in protected area,)

As stated in the area profile TANAW park is loacated in Tayak hills which is 720 meters above
sea level. It is situated in the heart of a 309 hectares forestland that is co-manage by the LGU
and DENR. The park is plan to have structures (Figure 1) that are related to future activities
in the park.

Table 1. Infrastructure of TANAW Park

Area
Structure (hectares) Area (Sqm)
1 TAYAK ADVENTURE NATURE AND WILDLIFE (TANAW) PARK 24 240,000
a. Noah's ark
aa. Concreting of access/ circumferential road
ab. Overpass
ac. Mini Zoo
ad. TANAW de Rizal Wall
b. Camping Area
c. Visitor's Area
d. TANAW Hotel and Restaurant
e. Gazebo
f. Botanical Garden
g. Massage Hut
h. Clubhouse
i. Environment Center
j. Greenhouse
k. Bamboo Village
l. Pavilion
m. Terraced Organic Vegetable Farm
n. Electical facility
o. Lagoon
p. Fencing/ Stone Walling of Landslide areas
Annex A
Carrying Capacity of Tayak Adventure and Natures Wildlife
(TANAW) Park
Area
Structure (hectares) Area (Sqm)
q. Riprapping of Creek and Floodway
r. Viewing Decks with Coin Operated Binoculars
s. Stone Trails
t. Reforestation
u. Canopy Walk
v. 14 Station of the Cross
w. Tourism Information Center
x. Green Restrooms
y. Water System Two (2) Production Wells
z. Tree Houses
2 Laguna Educator's Academy 2 20,000
3 Land of the Titans 0.3 3,000
4 Our lady of Guadalupe Church 0.05 500
5 trading Post 0.13 1,300
6 Expansion of Philippine Army Military Camp 2.46 24,600
7 Cable Car 0.05 500
8 Ecotourism Road 2 20,000
9 River Rehabilitation and Erosion Control Facilities 0.6 6,000
10 Water Treatment Plant 0.05 500
11 Vineyard 1 10,000
12 Team building Facility 1 10,000
13 Production Well 0.05 500
14 Small Water Impounding System 0.03 300
15 Evacuation Center 0.05 500
16 Livelihood Center 3 30,000
Total: 36.77 367,700

Carrying capacity is also seen as an equilibrium or balance, however the CarCap for many
species is always changing due to various factors. Factors such as Physical CarCap which is
the limitations of an area and is often expressed as the number of units that an area can
physically accommodate. There is the Ecological CarCap which measures the population that
an ecosystem can sustain, define by the population density beyond which the mortality rate
for the species becomes greater than the birth rate or in terms of ecotourism it is the stress
that an ecosystem can withstand in terms of changing number of visitors or activities. The
Social CarCap on the other hand measure the crowding tolerance or as define by De Ruyck
et al. (1995) as “ the maximum visitor density at which recreationist still feel comfortable
and uncrowded. And last is the Economic CarCap which is the extent to which an area can
be altered before the economic activities that occur n the area are affected adversely.

In the context of ecotourism development, carrying capacity refers to the maximum number
of individuals or visitors that can be accommodated in an ecotourism site without affecting
 Annex A
Carrying Capacity of Tayak Adventure and Natures Wildlife
(TANAW) Park
the state of the environment, the level of satisfaction of the visitors, and the sociocultural
norms of the local community.

Carrying Capacity for TANAW Park

As stated in the Manual for Carrying Capacity the Boullon’s Carrying Capacity Mathematical
Model (BCCMM) is the challenge in how to determine the standard requirement of the
visitor. Standard may come in the form of time, space, material, psychological, ecological,
and other needs of the visitor. However in the case of TANAW park we focus on a given
standard that is observed to be effective in terms of square meter (sq.m.) per person): A
sample computation is given as a way to properly understand how carrying capacity is
computed (Figure 2).

Moreover, the sample shows the level of which the CarCap is computed. The first level is
computing for the Basic Carrying Capacity (BCC) of the area. The BCC is the calculation done
by dividing the total size of a particular area used by the visitors with the average or
standard size/ space requirements of the visitor.

Second level is the Potential Carrying Capacity (PCC) which is computed by using the
Rotation Coefficient (RC) of a specific tourism activity and multiplying it by the BCC

(RC is the total no. of hours a specific area is open for use divided by the average no of hours
an area is used by the visitors)

The third level is the Real Carrying Capacity (RCC) that is about the maximum permissible
number of use of an area one the limiting factors is derived from the particular
characteristics of the site. (Figure 2)

Figure 2. Computation for TANAW Park CarCap

Standard: 30 sq.m/person in the tropics Available Area for tourist: 24 has

First level:Basic Carrying Capacity (BCC)

BCC = a/b 8000 visitors

a. Area used by Visitors in sq.m 240,000 sq.m
b. Average Visitors standard in sq.m 30 sq.m/ visitor

Second level: Potential Carrying Capacity

PCC= axb 12444 visitors
a. BCC 8000 visitor
b. Rotation carrying Capacity (RCC)

Where:
RCC= a/b 1.56 hours
a. Total no. of hours a specific area is open for use 14 hours
b. Average no. of hours an area is used by visitors 9 hours
 Annex A
Carrying Capacity of Tayak Adventure and Natures Wildlife
(TANAW) Park
Third Level: Real Carrying Capacity
100 - b1 100 - bn visitors/
RCC= a X X 2098
100 100 days
a. PCC 12444
b1 Limiting Factor 8.22
b2 Limiting Factor 78.57
b3 Limiting Factor 14.29

Where:
Limiting factor (Lf) is derive from the particular characteristics of the site (or
standards/ needs of the visitors) have been applied e.g. typhoons, available time

Lf1= for typhoon, south wind (Habagat)factor

LF1= a/b x 100 8.22
a. Days affected by Typhoon 30 days
b. No. of Days Park is Open 365 days

Lf2= factor for Available Time for outdor Activities (5am to 4pm)
Lf2= a/b x 100 78.57
a. Available Time for outdoor Activities 11 hours
b. Time Park is open 14 hours

Lf3= Factor for Intense sunlight in a day (12pm to 2pm)

Lf3= a/b x 100 14.29
a. Intense sunlight in a day 2 hours
b. Time Park is open 14 hours

An alternative for the practical and conceptual failure of carrying capacity is the Limit of
Acceptable Change (LAC). Its framework is developed by the US Forest Service in the 1980s.

It is based on the idea that rather than putting a threshold on visitor number, management
of an ecotourism area should be based on constant monitoring of the site as well as the
objective for which the area is established.

It is possible that with LAC framework (Figure 3.), the carrying capacity can still be
established, while in Buollon’s model, the specific number of visitors can actually be
computed. (Figure 4)
Annex A
Carrying Capacity of Tayak Adventure and Natures Wildlife
(TANAW) Park

LAC PLANNING/
SYSTEM

Figure 3. The LAC planning system (Stankey et al. 1985)

Data requirements
Item number unit
Length of Circumferencial road 2000 meters
Available length of e-jeep 6.5 meters
Available driver per day 2 drivers
Preffered distances of e-jeep from one another 200 meters
No. of hours the e-jeep is available 8 hours
No. passenger per e-jeep 8 passenger
Availability of e-jeep 8 hours
e-jeep's Maximum no. of hours for completely circumferencing 1 hour

Available no. of e-jeep 2 e-jeeps

No. of days circumferencial road closed 10 days

LIMIT OF ACCEPTABLE CHANGE (LAC)

Annex A
Carrying Capacity of Tayak Adventure and Natures Wildlife
(TANAW) Park
Optimum number of e-jeep
Number of e-jeep = Length of circumferencial road/
(Length of jeep + Distance of e-jeep from one another) 10 e-jeep

Carrying Capacity for LAC

First Level: Basic Carrying Capacity (BCC)
BCC= LAC x No. of passeneger per e-jeep 77 passenger
Second Level: Potential Carrying Capacity (PCC)
PCC = BCC x Rotation Coefficient (RC) passenger
620 per day
where:
RC = Number of Hours e-jeep is available/ e-jeep's
Maximum no. of hours for completely circumferencing 8

Third Level: Real Carrying Capacity

100-Lf1 100-Lfn
RCC = PCC X
100
X 100
Where:
Lf = to limiting factor based on condition of the site
Lf1=f actor for the Capacity for e-jeeps route rotation
Lf1= Available no. of e-jeep / Optimum no. of e-jeep 0.207

Lf2= factor regarding availability of driver

Lf2= available driver per day / optimum no. of e-jeep 0.207

Lf3= factor regarding availability of cricumferencial

road
note:During pilgimage season
Lf3= No. of days closed / 365 days 0.027

RCC = 617 visitors per day

Figure 4. Computation of CarCap for e-jeep

In addition to the computation of carrying capacity we have incorporated a sample
computation for the computation of Boullons CarCap and the LAC (Figure 5 and Figure 6)

Standar Available Area for

d: 9 sq.m/person in the tropics tourist: 1 has
Annex A
Carrying Capacity of Tayak Adventure and Natures Wildlife
(TANAW) Park
First level:Basic Carrying Capacity (BCC)
visitor
BCC = a/b 1111 s
10,00
a. Area used by Visitors in sq.m 0 sq.m
b. Average Visitors standard in sq.m 9 sq.m/ visitor

Second level: Potential Carrying Capacity

visitor
PCC= axb 1728 s
a. BCC 1111 visitor
b. Rotation carrying Capacity (RCC)

Where:
RCC= a/b 1.56 hours
a. Total no. of hours a specific area is open for use 14 hours
b. Average no. of hours an area is used by visitors 9 hours

Third Level: Real Carrying Capacity

100 -
100 - bn visitor
RCC= a X b1 X 267
s
100 100
a. PCC 1728
b1 Limiting Factor 8.22
b2 Limiting Factor 78.57
b3 Limiting Factor 21.43

Where:
Limiting factor (Lf) is derive from the particular characteristics of the site (or
standards/ needs of the visitors) have been applied e.g. typhoons, available
time

factor for Typhoon, Southwind

Lf1= (Habagat)
a/b x
LF1= 100 8.22
a. Days affected by Typhoon 30 days
b. No. of Days Park is Open 365 days

Lf2= factor for Available Time for outdor Activities (5am to 4pm)
a/b x
Lf2= 100 78.57
a. Available Time for outdoor Activities 11 hours
b. Time ark is open 14 hours

Lf3= Factor for Intense sunlight in a day (11pm to 2pm)

 Annex A
Carrying Capacity of Tayak Adventure and Natures Wildlife
(TANAW) Park
a/b x
Lf3= 100 21.43
a. Intense sunlight in a day 3 hours
b. Time ark is open 14 hours

Figure 5. Carrying Capacity of Noah’s Ark using Boullon’s CarCap

Note: Data came from the Boullon’s CarCar (Figure 5)

Preferred no. of visitors per hour 267 visitors
No. of hours visitors stay in the ark (approximate) 1 hr/visitor
No. of hours the ark is open 10 hrs
Maximum no. of hours for park is open 14 hrs
No. of days ark closed 30 days
No. of hours to reach the ark using the 900 steps 0.5 hrs

Carrying capacity for LAC

First Level: Basic Carrying Capacity (BCC)

267
Number of visitor = Preffered no. of visiotrs X no. hours visitor stay in the ark visitors

Second Level: Potential Carrying Capacity (PCC)

PCC = BCC x RC 2671

Where Rotaion Coefficient (RC):

10
RC= No. of hours Ark is open/ no. hours visiotrs stay in the ark open
Figure 6. Carrying Capacity of Noah’s Ark

Third Level: Real Carrying Capacity

100-Lf1 100-Lfn Visitors/

RCC = PCC X X 2096
100 100 day
Annex A
Carrying Capacity of Tayak Adventure and Natures Wildlife
(TANAW) Park

Lf1= factor regarding availability of ark

Lf1= average no. of hours visiotrs stay in the ark/no. of hours ark 10
is open

Lf2= factor regarding availability of circumferencial road

8.219178
Lf2= No. of days ark is closed / 365 days

Lf3= factor regarding the time to reach the ark thru 900
steps
Lf3= No. of hours to reach the ark/ no. of hours ark is open
5

Note: Modification in any figures can be directly inputted in the electronic copy of the actual
computation.