Economic Valuation of Use Values of Environmental Services in Lar National Park in Iran

Today, national parks as a natural resource capital are facing many challenges. Therefore, economic valuation of its functions and services is one of the most important categories of planning and sustainable ecosystem management. The present study aimed to estimate the economic value of ecosystem services in the Lar National Park, Iran. To this aim, the methods of revealed willingness to pay, imputed willingness to pay, and expressed willingness to pay were used. The results of this research showed the economic value of water resources reservation services (1619.802 Million Dollars, $M), soil conservation services (9.218 $M), soil production services (0.804 $M), recreation services (3.004 $M), habitat service (36.722 $M), production services (1.312 $M), carbon sequestration (847.109 $M), and oxygen supply services (93.618 $M). Finally, the total economic valuation of the use services was estimated to be $1867.087 M. Since more than 97% of the values are related to the water conservation and gas regulation services, sustainable ecosystem management is essential for preserving and expanding these services.