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4.2 Research Overview
Present and future perceptions of the Benuaq Dayak’s natural resources can be expressed by estimating the intangible value of their natural resources consumption.
Intangible values consist of indirect use value and non-use value resulting from forest functions including hydrology and water resource management, carbon sequestration,
environmental contributions, habitat systems for wildlife, and maintaining biodiversity McCracken and Abaza, 2000.
The indirect use value is the benefits that people take from nature that indirectly affect people’s activities in terms of economics and production. The benefit would also
result in life system support McCracken and Abaza, 2000. The indirect use value for the Benuaq Dayak is estimated by using secondary data. The data of flood prevention,
carbon sequestration and sedimentation prevention that has been already published will be transferred to the research benefit transfer data. The benefit transfer data is
estimated by transferring or applying the value or benefit of particular resources from previous studies to the site for which no such benefit values are available McCracken
and Abaza, 2000. Theoretically, indirect use values can be estimated by substitute products, replacement costs or preventive expenditures Kahn, 1998.
The non-use value is the value that people benefit from nature without directly using or perceiving it. The non-use value for the Benuaq Dayak will be estimated
through the option value and the existence value. The option value is the willingness of the respondent to pay an extra transportation cost to the different forest area in order to
save their village forest for their future generations McCracken and Abaza, 2000. The estimated option value result will express the village people’s current and future
98 perceptions of their forest. Non-use value can be estimated by travel cost value, hedonic
value or contingent valuation methods McCracken and Abaza, 2000. The existence value is a value placed on the forest area or natural resource area
that is related to any actual or potential use of the good. Examples of goods include timber, wild life, and water management McCracken and Abaza, 2000. The existence
value will express the people’s preferences regarding their natural resources in the future, considering their condition at the current time.
The research of the Benuaq Dayak was conducted in the West Kutai District in East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. Three Benuaq Dayak villages—Tepulang, Benung and
Dingin—were used as the research area because of the homogeneity of their ethnicity, their traditional customs and the richness of their natural resources. The data was
collected using questionnaires.
4.3 Research Objectives
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