Economic Evaluation of Pistachio and Wild Almond Forest Ecosystem with Conditional Valuation Approach Based on Rural and Nomadic Society (A Case Study: of Baft County)

Forest ecosystems show the most important values of natural assets. Low and unfavorable valuation of forests and considering them as free goods leads to inefficient allocation and mismanagement of forests. Wild pistachio and wild almond forests are among the most important forests in Kerman province. The purpose of this study is to estimate the conservation value of wild pistachio (Pistacia terebinthus) and wild almond (Amygdalus scoparia) forests and the average household willingness to pay using socio-economic factors, environmental inclinations and tourist perspective.

This study has evaluated the economic evaluation of forests using the logit binary model with a two-dimensional double conditional valuation approach. Data were collected using 172 questionnaires from rural and nomadic communities and Excel 2013 and Nlogit 5 software were used to estimate the model.

The results showed that socio-economic factors such as age, education, income and proposed amount, as well as environmental inclinations and tourist attitudes are factors affecting the conservation value and protection of this forest ecosystem and also the attitude of society. The location of the forests was positive and thought-provoking. The average willingness to pay protection value by numerical integration method was estimated to be 16059.09 Tomans per month for each household in the year 2019.

Factors such as young age (youth), high-income household, higher education, environmental inclinations and tourism perspective are among the factors affecting the protection and importance of forests. Regional policymakers and planners are encouraged to pay special attention to young people participating in forest development and conservation projects, as well as development and environmental programs in In order to increase income and increase environmental awareness and culture in their plans.