Summary:
According to IUCN a protected area is “a clearly defined geographical space, recognized, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.”. Protected areas produce flows of economically goods and services that secure livelihoods and benefit society. Parnitha National Park is considered a protected area by the greek and european legislation. Parnithas’ flora and fauna remain unique in the Attica plain, despite the severe human impact.
The present study attempts the economic valuation of this park, which offers plenty of recreational outdoor activities. Individual Travel Cost Method (ITCM) was used for evaluation, in order to quantify the benefits derived by visitors to this National Park. A fieldwork was conducted from June to October of 2016. The required data and information were collected via 100 questionnaires, filled-out from parks’ visitors. The questionnaire is aimed to collect information on the visitors’ behavior towards the environmental goods or services to be evaluated. The questionnaire had two sections. In the first section, some general questions were asked such as the individuals’ number of visits per year, the travelled distance, the kind of trip, the kind of vehicle to access the site, the amount of time spent at the site, the quality of the recreational site, natural attractiveness of the site, etc. In the second section, survey respondents were asked about their age, gender, education, income and other socio-economic characteristics.
Three semi-log models were used for the regression analysis, excluding six questionnaires which presented deviation from the remaining sample. Based on the analysis results, the calculated consumer surplus attributable to a visit to the Parnitha National Park ranges between 70-75 €. Based on the total number of visits received by the administration of the park (data drawn from the official surveys of visitation rate of 1995 and 2001), the annual consumer surplus offered by the park is between 28.213.500 -30.228.750 € based on Official Visitation Rate Survey of 2001 and 18.656.820 -19.989.450 € based on Official Visitation Rate Survey of 1995. Taking into account the costs incurred by the visitors, the annual total value of the park was estimated at 36.383.323,5 -38.398.573,5 € based on the survey of 2001 and 24.059.302,02-25.391.932,02 € based on the survey of 1995. Furthermore, negative correlation was found between the number of visits per visitor annually and travel costs. On the contrary, positive relations were found between the number of visits per visitor annually, the activity of cycling or sightseeing as the main purpose of visit, the visitors who stated that they are unemployed or self-employed and the visitors who consider that the existing facilities are factors of high environmental pressure.
Keywords:
Environmental economic valuation, Individual Travel Cost Method, Protected Areas, Parnitha National Park, Mountain forest ecosystems.
