Estimation of recreational value of Naharkhoran Forest park using a contingent valuation method

This study is presented the recreation value for the Naharkhoran’s natural forest park of Gorgan city that is one of the best forest parks for recreation in country. For estimating of recreation value in this place, Contingent Valuation Method and Dichotomous Choice questionnaire were used. The population of the park visitors was determined during all seasons of in 2013 and based on Cochran formula 294 questionnaires was completed. For measuring willingness to pay of visitors Logit model was used to gain park benefits and model parameters were estimated base on the maximum likelihood method. The results showed that the willingness to pay had a positive relation with income and education level but had a negative relation with age, residency status, crossed distance and offered price. Variables such as family size, length of stay in the park and number of visitors had no significant effect on WTP. Based on these results the average of the willingness to pay for each person is 10450 Rials to visit this park and for a year willingness to pay each family is estimated about 117144 Rials. Total value of annual recreation was 21,945 million Rials (about $ 686,424 America dollars) and annual recreation value per acre is determined 35395161 Rials (1107 America dollars) for this park.