The Role of Education in Increasing Individual Willingness to Pay for Conservation of Caspian Sea

In this study, the effects of education on increasing individual willingness for the conservation of the Caspian Sea have been investigated using a random sampling method and collecting 400 questionnaires in the seaboard provinces in Iran. Five different informative brochures about the ecosystem of the Caspian Sea and its crucial role in human life were handed to 200 people as intervention group. The control group also included 200 people. Data were analyzed using the contingent valuation method(CVM) and Logit function. Results show a significant difference between the two groups in their willingness to pay (WTP) for conservation of the Caspian Sea environment. Estimation of the Logit model showed that educational intervention has a significant effect on individual WTP for the conservation of this ecosystem. Each additional brochure with new information increases the probability of a willingness to pay by 0.104 units, respectively. Also, other variable effects are investigated and, among them, education and income were more effective in increasing individual willingness. In the control group, the income variable was more effective. Monthly individual willingness to pay for conservation of the environment in the control and intervention group was estimated at 5370.8 and 8662.3 Rials, respectively. Annual WTP for each household was estimated at about 205594.2 and 3154479.4 Rials in the groups mentioned. According to the results, an increase in information about the importance of the Caspian Sea, lead to a higher WTP for conservation of this ecosystem.