Increasing sources of revenue for safeguarding biodiversity and environmental management in Koh Tao sub-district

The island of Koh Tao, Thailand, attracts up to 500,000 tourists each year. This is important for the local economy but can also generates waste and pressure on the corals.The finance solution was introduced where tourists pay THB 20 visitation fee (US$0.6 per tourist), endorsed with an issuance of the amended municipal ordinance by Koh Tao sub-district Municipality Office with a hard-copy receipt being issued to each tourist at the pier upon arrival. It can generate up to $360,000 per year to protect island’s biodiversity. This finance solution has aligned public finance (Koh Tao municipality fiscal budget) and private finance (tourists) to a nature-positive future. The issuance of municipal ordinance with specific pro-biodiversity finance provisions was introduced for the first time in a non-protected area of Thailand.The first-of-its-kind legal framework titled “Koh Tao Pier Fee Management and Collection Act 2021” was announced by the Koh Tao municipality office in late 2021.