Deserts and Sustainable Development in Iran: The Study of Ecotourism Value of Mesr Desert Region in Isfahan Province

Desert ecosystems have substantial economic potentials that paying attention to them in order to attain the sustainable development and to get rid of one-product economy in a country such as Iran is essential. Among the major functions of desert regions is their recreational function. Accordingly، the objective of this study is to estimate the recreational value of Mesr desert region، located in the Khur and Biabanak county of Isfahan province. In this regard، the single bound dichotomous choice contingent valuation method has been used. Furthermore، to enhance the accuracy of this study، the logit and probit models and three functional forms have been employed and their results were compared with each other. According to the estimation results، can be seen although doesn’t exist a significant difference between two econometric models، logit and probit، but there is a substantial difference among the functional forms in both models. Also، using the various functional forms، the recreation value of the Mesr desert region has estimated in the range 4. 48 to 9. 24 billion Rials in 2012. These results represent on the one hand the substantial value of Iran’s desert regions and on the other hand the sensitivity of the results of contingent valuation studies to the selection of functional form of the models.