Estimating willingness to pay in order to prevent external intangible effects of dust in Yazd-Ardakan plain

Although intangible effects on natural environments are not visible and only become apparent over a long period of time, they may cause irreparable damages whose estimation is not always feasible. However, people's willingness to pay (WTP) for the prevention of adverse environmental effects can be determined. The present study addresses the issue of the effect of dust in Yazd-Ardakan Plain. It aims at the valuation of local people's WTP in order to prevent extra-regional intangible effects of dust in Yazd-Ardakan Plain in 2010. The study was based on data collected from 479 questionnaires completed by people in the affected area. Factors affecting local people's WTP and their expected WTP were estimated by logit regression model. It was revealed that among the studied variables, income, education, and environment importance had significant positive effects, and that household size, type of residence, and bid had significant negative effects on people's WTP. Also, the WTP for the conservation of the region was estimated as to be 93.4 billion Iranian Rials (IRR) per year. In other words, it is necessary to invest at least 93.4 billion IRR to prevent the adverse impacts of dust on the plain. Given the 183 billion IRR expenditure for stabilizing sand in the region and the estimated 93.4 billion IRR protection value for the plain, 50 % of expenses would be paid by people living in the region, which paves the way for the fulfillment of conservation programs by experts using public contributions.