The unique Hyrcanian (Caspian) forests of northern Iran provide vital ecosystem services for local and global communities. We assess the status and trends of key ecosystem services in this region where native forest conversion has accelerated to make way for housing and farm development. This is a mountainous forested area that is valuable for both conservation and multiple human uses including recreation and farming. It contains globally significant natural habitats for in situ conservation of biological diversity. A rapid, qualitative, and participatory approach was used including interviews with local households and experts in combination with assessment of land use/cover remote sensing data to identify and map priority ecosystem services in the Geographic Information System (GIS). Based on the interests of the beneficiaries, eight priority services (food production, water supply, raw materials, soil conservation, water regulation, climate regulation, biodiversity, and recreation) were identified and mapped. The results indicate the current typical spatial distribution of the provided services based on structural characteristics of the study landscape and their changing trends through a comparison of past, present and future land use, and land cover. Although food production and recreation have greatly increased in recent decades, the other services, in particular timber production, biodiversity, and water purification and supply are being gradually lost. The results of this study and of others elsewhere should raise awareness of ecosystem service status and trends and the value of examining these since they provide much of the information to inform natural resources policy and decision making. The declines in supply of key ecosystem services both within and outside the protected area are creating conflicts within communities as well as impacting on the integrity of the area and careful planning and conservation is required to provide win-win opportunities.

The current paper aims to assess the effects of landscape change in a mountain river basin in the north of Iran through quantifying, mapping, and assessing carbon storage. The analyses were performed based on previous alterations in land use and land cover (LULC) (1988–2018) and on expected changes determined by three LULC alteration setups for 2048. The Landsat imagery from 2018, 2008, 1998, and 1988 was used for evaluating and predicting the spatiotemporal distributions of LULC changes. The future LULC image prediction has been generated using Land Change Modeler (LCM) module of TerrSet software for the years 2028, 2038, and 2048. Validation was carried out by overlaying the actual and projected to 2018 map. We integrated the Markov Chain (MC) and InVEST Carbon Storage and Sequestration (InVEST-CSS) models for simulating the ecosystem carbon storage and the long-term monetary valuation. In this process, we considered social costs/economic value because of the area’s loss and gain of stored carbon. The results show that forests and rangelands with good and poor conditions decreased by 631.2, 10,374, and 10,254 ha, respectively, from 1988 to 2018. Overall, modeling and mapping LULC changes showed a descending trend in forests (0.66%), agriculture (0.1%), and rangelands (4.1%) in 2048. In addition, carbon storage has already been lost by 9.9 million tons (76.98 ha⁻¹) from 1988 to 8.8 million tons (68.86 ha⁻¹) in 2018 and is expected to have an 8.4 million tons (65.25 ha⁻¹) loss by 2048. Monitoring the economic value of carbon storage from 1988 to 2018 shows a loss of $US 15684338 (121.8 ha⁻¹) and estimates a loss of $US6972622 (54.18 ha⁻¹) by 2048. Therefore, spatiotemporal design of InVEST model by estimating the carbon value over time focuses on continuous monitoring actions for both the carbon pools dynamic and LULC pattern. This consideration causes reduction the uncertainty of estimated models and also increases the continuous cost of those changes. This will help government and decision makers for long-term and accurate carbon sequestration strategies for ecosystem.

Today, countries that focus more on economic development considers the tourism industry as a major contributor to it. As one of the major field of tourism, ecotourism is seriously promoted. Estimating monetary value of environmental resources of ecosystem function is a method for understanding if the investments for conservation, improvement or revival of the environmental resources earned social welfare improvements. In this study, The recreational value of Bamo National Park (BNP) was estimated and measured using two methods of Contingent Value Method (CVM) and Travel Cost Method (TCM). The variables, inhabitance, distance from park, first visit, number of visit, deontologist, education, travel cost, visitors income, museum existence and existence of animal species were the effective variables on willingness to pay (WTP) of visitors in 2015. Monthly expected willingness to pay of Consequentialist and Deontologist visitors was US$ 2.08 and 2.47, respectively. Finally, the recreational value of Bamu Park, which were estimated in two methods was equivalent US$ 43940.47 and 79959.25, respectively, in 2015. The travel cost method used the market price information and it revealed there is willingness to pay and 90.7% of visitors have zone inhabitance. Further, travel cost function was ideal for the econometrics theoretical aspect and preferred using the travel cost method instead of contingent value method to valuating the Bamo National Park.

This study investigates the recreational value of the Helen protected forest area, incorporating the new environmental paradigm into economic valuation. Visitors’ willingness to pay and its association with scores reflecting the new environmental paradigm were assessed through contingent valuation and a dual-dimensional questionnaire. Two models are employed: a base model with socio-economic variables and a model integrating new environmental paradigm. Results indicate that 83.04% of visitors are willing to pay for recreational use. The proposed amount, visit frequency, new environmental paradigm, age, gender, education, and income were found to significantly influence the acceptance of willingness to pay. Results indicated a strong positive correlation exists between new environmental paradigm and willingness to pay, highlighting the influence of environmental perspective. Average willingness to pay per household per visit is IRR 190,390.4 (USD 0.53), translating to an annual recreational value of IRR 22,629,264,215 (USD 64,088) for the entire Helen forest. The average new environmental paradigm scores for visitors stand at 57.36, with the statement “plants and animals have similar rights to humans” receiving the highest score of 28.4. These findings emphasize the importance of considering environmental perspectives in managing recreational sites. Integrating a new environmental paradigm into valuation methods can inform sustainable management strategies that balance economic development with environmental conservation and social well-being.

Extended Abstract Background: Forests are considered the main pillars of sustainable development in any country. They play an important role in the socioeconomic development of regions by producing goods and delivering services directly and indirectly. They play a vital role in ensuring the well-being of rural and forest-dwelling communities and rural ...