Determination of Preservation Value for Kor River in Fars Province: Application of Willingness to Pay

The preservation value of Kor River and individual willingness to pay (WTP) is determined by contingent valuation (CV) method. There are several environmental services including agricultural production; fishery and recreation supplied by the Kor River. The logit model and maximum likelihood method are used to evaluate individual willingness to pay. The results show that 57% of households agree to pay for preservation of Kor River. The maximum willingness to pay for preservation and maximum receive due to degradation of Kor River is calculated to be 66193 and 90000 Rials (household/month), respectively. So willingness to accept is 36% more than willingness to pay. The mean of WTP for preservation is calculated to be 286 Rials (household/year). The low preservation value shows that the people are not aware about the River benefits. So, it is necessary for policy markers to attempt household's attention through further education and extensional programs to avoid degradation of this River.