Recreationists Willingness to Pay for Conservation of a Forest ecosystem: An Economic study of Basavana Betta State Forest, Karnataka state, India

An economic study on willingness to pay by general recreationists’ who visited Basavana Betta State Forest, Karnataka, India, for water recreation revealed that average WTP for conservation of the forest ecosystem, based on the double bounded dichotomous contingent valuation method, was Rs. 846 ($17.63) per visitor as onetime payment. On the contrary WTP of recreationists of a well developed recreation spot (resort) was higher at Rs. 2367 (US$ 49.31) per visitor. There was a negative relationship between the bid amount and WTP and a positive relationship between income and WTP in both the cases.