| Abstrakt: |
The evaluation of non-market functions and services of the environment, including tourism, serves various purposes, such as recognizing and understanding the environmental and ecological benefits for humans, presenting the country's environmental issues to decision-makers and planners, and adjusting and modifying national calculations like GDP. It is essential to nationalize and prevent the indiscriminate destruction and exploitation of natural resources. The purpose of this study is to estimate the economic value of rangeland tourism in four villages: Keshanak, Darkesh, Chakhmaqloo, and Zoulia, located in the Maneh and Samolghan counties of North Khorasan province. The conditional valuation method was used for estimation. The research tool employed a twodimensional questionnaire, and a logit model was estimated using the maximum likelihood method to examine the factors affecting willingness to pay. The required data were collected through 133 questionnaires and face-to-face interviews with visitors from all four areas. The sample size was determined using Cochran's formula, and random sampling was employed as the sampling method. The results of the model used to identify the factors influencing the value of tourism in the region indicate that variables such as marital status, employment status, proposed amount, and rangeland attractiveness are significant at a 5% probability level. These factors are studied as effective determinants of the visitors' willingness to pay to use the rangelands. The study found that the average willingness to pay as the entrance fee for each visitor to utilize the rangelands in the region was 5,880 Tomans, and the recreational value of each hectare of rangelands in the region was estimated to be 49,556 Tomans per year. These results demonstrate the significant tourism value associated with the rangelands in the studied villages, which can assist planners and decision-makers in formulating plans, protecting the rangelands, and promoting their sustainable use in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
