Estimation of Economic Value of Water and Soil Conservation Function in Northern Central Alborz Protected Area

Valuation of intangible goods and services resulting from natural environments has become increasingly important nowadays and in its local, national and international dimensions has found a special place in discussions related to the destruction of natural resources and deforestation. Because quantifying ecosystem functions and estimating their economic value has a great impact on regulating the process of exploiting these resources. In this research, an attempt has been made to study and evaluate the ecosystem services of the northern part of the Central Alborz Protected Area, including the function of water and soil conservation.  At first, the desired services in the ecosystem were identified, and then the replacement cost and opportunity cost approaches were used to estimate the economic value of the functions of water and soil conservation and regulation. The results showed that the total value of water conservation function in the ecosystem of the region was estimated at 4007688 Tomans per hectare that the function of water storage with 3244722 had the highest value among the aspects. Also, other results of research on soil conservation showed that the economic value of this function by each hectare of the ecosystem of the region is estimated at 60306.5 Tomans, so that in this function, to sediment control has the most value among other aspects.  Evaluating the ecosystem water and soil conservation services of the region can provide more accurate information to managers and planners in order to protect natural resources and lead to more detailed plans in this area.