Estimating participation and willingness to pay of local communities for preservation and reclamation of desert areas(Case Stuy: Abuzeidabad district of Aran Va Bidgol county)

Recently, natural resources economists have turned to valuation and appraisal of the contribution of natural resources to human’s welfare and they have made striking progress in valuing the environmental and ecological services of eco-systems. The present study investigated people’s willingness to pay (WTP) for participation in preservation and reclamation of Abuzeidabad desert area through contingent valuation method and by applying double dichotomous questionnaire. Logit regression model was applied for measuring willingness to pay and the parameters of this model were estimated based on maximum likelihood. It was revealed that variables including poultry farming and monthly income leave positive significant impact upon WTP but age, sex, job, farming, livestock raising, overgrazing, and proposed amount (bid) had negative effects on willingness to pay. Besides, family size (the number of family members) had negative effect on willingness to pay but it was not significant at acceptable significance level. The average amount ethical and consequentialists were willing to pay for preservation and reclamation of Abuzeidabad desert area was estimated 93986 and 95153, respectively. Therefore, ethical conduct must be institutionalized within families so as to prevent much extra expenses for preservation and development of environmental objectives.