Estimating the Recreational Value of Abar Watershed Rangelands in Shahrood

Valuating the non-market environmental functions and services including tourism is important for many reasons including understanding the ecological benefits, providing the country's environmental issues to the planners, modifying the national computing system such as gross national product and preventing the destruction and excessive exploitation of natural resources. The aim of this research is the estimation of the recreational value of Abar watershed using a contingent valuation method. To investigate the factors affecting willingness to pay of individuals, the logit model was estimated using maximum likelihood estimation. Required data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. The results showed that overnight stay, family cost, and satisfaction of welfare services were significant (P<0.05), affecting the WTP. The mean of WTP for recreational value of this rangeland was calculated to be 8096 Rials per visitor. According to the results, the Abar Watershed has considerable recreational values. Thus, these values provide enough justification for policymakers to maintain the quality of natural resources and avoid degrading rangeland resources.