Using contingent valuation method to valuation conservation of habitat function in North Zagros Forests

The increasing destruction of the Zagros forests ecosystem in recent years has doubled the need for valuation studies in this area. The progressive development of economic valuations methods in recent decade enables the application of the concept of payments for ecosystem services (PES) in order to conservation of forest biodiversity and habitate functions. In this study, the habitat value of North Zagros forests in Sarvabad basin of Kurdistan province was estimated through conditional valuation method (CVM) and logit model. For this purpose, 260 willingness to pay questionnaires based on Cochran's formula were completed. The internal consistency of the questionnaire items and the reliability of the questionnaires were confirmed by Cronbach's alpha (77.6) and the validity of the items and questions was also judged by a group of related professors. The willingness to pay for habitat protection function was calculated through the logit regression model and using the median willingness to pay method. The expected amount of willingness to pay for the protection of the habitat value of the study area in this study was equal to 52825.8 Rials. Also, the annual value of habitat and wildlife protection of Sarvabad watershed was equal to 121254.6 million Rials and the annual conservation and habitat value of the whole basin (per hectare) was equal to 6.58 million Rials. The results confirms that people who have already visited the area, are members of environmental organizations, or have an environmental orientation are significantly more likely to accept a willingness to pay than those who do not.