Economic-Recreational Valuation of the Helen Forest Protected Area in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province

Khalili Ardali, Zohreh; Amirnejad, Hamid; Mohammadi Limaei, Soleiman; Salehi, Sadegh

[Home ] [Archive]

[ فارسی ]

Main Menu

Home

Journal Information

Articles archive

For Authors

For Reviewers

Registration

Contact us

Site Facilities

Search in website

Receive site information

Volume 12, Issue 25 (3-2025)

PEC 2025, 12(25): 46-59

Back to browse issues page

Economic-Recreational Valuation of the Helen Forest Protected Area in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province

Zohreh Khalili Ardali ^*

, Hamid Amirnejad²

, Soleiman Mohammadi Limaei³

, Sadegh Salehi⁴

Ph.D. Candidate in Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Guilan, Sowmeh Sara, Gilan, Iran., Ph.D. Candidate in Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Guilan, Sowmeh Sara, Gilan, Iran. , Khalilizohreh70@gmail.com
2- Department of Agricultural Economics, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran
3- Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Guilan, Sowmeh Sara, Gilan, Iran
4- Associate Professor, Department of Sociology of Development, Faculty of Humanities and SocialSciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran

Abstract: (1652 Views)

To express the role and importance of the environment and convert it into monetary value, these resources need to be valued using appropriate methods. This study aims to determine the recreational value and visitors' willingness to pay for the Zagros forest in the Helen Forest protected area of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari provinces using the contingent valuation method and a double-bounded dichotomous choice questionnaire. First, the sample size was determined based on Cochran's method, and data were collected through questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. The Logit model was used to estimate individual willingness to pay, with parameters estimated using the maximum likelihood method. The results showed that 83.04% of visitors are willing to pay for recreational use of the forest area. The Logit model results indicated that variables such as the proposed bid amount, number of visits, environmental statement, age, sex, education, income, residence, and travel duration are the most important factors affecting the probability of accepting the proposed amount. Furthermore, the annual recreational value of the entire Helen forest area was estimated at 16,430,459,992 rials. These results demonstrate the potential for expanding recreational services, which may lead to increased economic, social, and cultural development. Therefore, it is suggested that policymakers allocate appropriate budgets for the protection and development of this natural heritage.

Article number: 4

Keywords: Contingent valuation, Double-bounded Dichotomous Choice, Logit model, Zagros forest

Full-Text [PDF 1784 kb] (572 Downloads)

Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2024/01/5 | Accepted: 2024/05/13 | Published: 2025/04/22

References

1. Amiri, N., Limaei, S. M. 2021. Estimating the recreational value of a forest area using contingent valuation and individual travel cost methods (Case Study: Kahman forest area, Iran). Central Asian Journal Of Environmental Science And Technology Innovation, (4):164-174.

2. Amirnejad, H., Khalilian, S., Assareh, M. H., Ahmadian, M. 2006. Estimating the existence value of north forests of Iran by using a contingent valuation method. Ecological Economics, 58 (4):665-675.

3. And who acts, who Aseres, S. A., Sira, R. K. 2020. Estimating visitors' willingness to pay for a conservation fund: sustainable financing approach in protected areas in Ethiopia. Heliyon, 6 (8).

4. Bakhsh, K., Meshaal, I., Riaz, H. 2020. Evaluating visitors’ travel demand and recreational values in Kallar Kahar Lake, Pakistan. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 22, 7951-7967.

5. Bertram, C., Larondelle, N. 2017. Going to the woods is going home: Recreational benefits of a larger urban forest site—A travel cost analysis for Berlin, Germany. Ecological economics, 132, 255-263.

6. Bostan, Y., Fatahi Ardakani, A., Fehresti Sani, M., Sadeghinia, M. 2020. A comparison of stated preferences methods for the valuation of natural resources: the case of contingent valuation and choice experiment. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 17 (9):4031-4046.

7. Buckley, R., Brough, P., Hague, L., Chauvenet, A., Fleming, C., Roche, E., Harris, N. 2019. Economic value of protected areas via visitor mental health. Nature communications, 10 (1): 5005.

8. Campbell, E. T. 2018. Revealed social preference for ecosystem services using the eco-price. Ecosystem Services, 30, 267-275.

9. Chu, X., Zhan, J., Wang, C., Hameeda, S., Wang, X. 2020. Households' willingness to accept improved ecosystem services and influencing factors: application of contingent valuation method in Bashang Plateau, Hebei Province, China. Journal of environmental management, 255, 109925.

10. Costanza, R., d'Arge, R., De Groot, R., Farber, S., Grasso, M., Hannon, B., Van Den Belt, M. 1997. The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital. nature, 387 (6630) :253-260.

11. Enriquez-de-Salamanca, A. 2023. Valuation of ecosystem services: A source of financing Mediterranean loss-making forests. Small-scale Forestry, 22 (1): 167-192.

12. Gordillo, F., Elsasser, P., Günter, S. 2019. Willingness to pay for forest conservation in Ecuador: Results from a nationwide contingent valuation survey in a combined “referendum”–“Consequential open-ended” design. Forest Policy and Economics, 105, 28-39.

13. Hou, Y., Li, B., Müller, F., Fu, Q., Chen, W. 2018. A conservation decision-making framework based on ecosystem service hotspot and interaction analyses on multiple scales. Science of the Total Environment, 643, 277-291.

14. Hanemann, W. M. 1989. Welfare evaluations in contingent valuation experiments with discrete response data: reply. American journal of agricultural economics, 71(4):1057-1061.

15. Lee, C. K., Han, S. Y. 2002. Estimating the use and preservation values of national parks’ tourism resources using a contingent valuation method. Tourism management, 23 (5): 531-540.

16. Mohammadi Limaei, S., Safari, G., Mohammadi Merceh, G. 2016. Recreational values of forest park using the contingent valuation method:(case study: Saravan Forest Park, north of Iran). Journal of Forest Science, 62 (10): 407-412.

17. Musa, F., Nadarajah, R. 2023. Valuing visitor’s willingness to pay for green tourism conservation: A case study of Bukit Larut Forest Recreation Area, Perak, Malaysia. Sustainable Environment, 9 (1): 2188767.

18. Myung, E. 2017. An exploratory study of attendee willingness to pay for environmentally friendly meetings. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 18(3): 272-287.

19. Palmieri, N., Suardi, A., Pari, L. 2020. Italian consumers’ willingness to pay for eucalyptus firewood. Sustainability, 12 (7): 2629.

20. Pham, L. T., Oksum, E., Do, T. D. 2019. Edge enhancement of potential field data using the logistic function and the total horizontal gradient. Acta Geodaetica et Geophysica, 54, 143-155.

21. Riccioli, F., Fratini, R., Fagarazzi, C., Cozzi, M., Viccaro, M., Romano, S., Tattoni, C. 2020. Mapping the recreational value of coppices’ management systems in Tuscany. Sustainability, 12 (19): 8039.

22. Robert, R. 2017. The Contingent Valuation Method in assessing the value of sport’s stadium in developing nations. The case of Poland.

23. Sameti, M., Moeeni, S. H., Mardiha, S., KhanizadeAmiri, M. 2012. Estimation the recreational value of Najvan park of Isfahan using a contingent valuation method. Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology, 1(1):64-79.

24. Shafiei, H., Limaei, S. M., Bonyad, A. 2022. Estimating the Recreational Value of Chitgar Forest Park Using Contingent Valuation Method. International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development (IJAMAD), 12 (4): 313-324.

25. Shrestha, R. K., Stein, T. V., Clark, J. 2007. Valuing nature-based recreation in public natural areas of the Apalachicola River region, Florida. Journal of environmental management, 85 (4): 977-985.

26. Sin, M. S., Kamaludin, M., Qing, W. H., Abdullah, M. 2022. Public awareness and willingness to pay (WTP) for forest conservation in Malaysia. International Forestry Review, 24 (1): 98-112.

27. Sun, X., Shen, J., Tao, R., Shen, Y., Cao, M., Xiao, Y. 2023. Local Willingness to Pay Survey for Rare and Endangered Species Protection in Qianjiangyuan National Park, China. Sustainability, 15 (3): 2045.

28. Yin, J., Zhao, D. 2018. Fuzzy stochastic unit commitment model with wind power and demand response under conditional value-at-risk assessment. Energies, 11(2) :341.

29. Zegeye, G., Erifo, S., Addis, G., Gebre, G. G. 2023. Economic valuation of urban forest using contingent valuation method: The case of Hawassa City, Ethiopia. Trees, Forests and People, 100398.

Send email to the article author

Add your comments about this article

Mendeley

Zotero

RefWorks

Khalili Ardali Z, Amirnejad H, Mohammadi Limaei S, Salehi S. Economic-Recreational Valuation of the Helen Forest Protected Area in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province. PEC 2025; 12 (25) : 4
URL: http://pec.gonbad.ac.ir/article-1-962-en.html

Rights and permissions
	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Volume 12, Issue 25 (3-2025)

Back to browse issues page

Persian site map - English site map - Created in 0.09 seconds with 37 queries by YEKTAWEB 4732