Estimating willingness to pay for environment conservation: a contingent valuation study of Kanas Nature Reserve, Xinjiang, China

The primary objective of this study is to estimate publics’ willingness to pay (WTP) for environment conservation and analyze factors influencing WTP. A questionnaire survey based on the contingent valuation method (CVM) was carried out at Kanas Nature Reserve, Xinjiang, China. Seventy-three percent of the 412 respondents were willing to pay at different levels, and the mean WTP value was RMB 54.60 ($8.03). The results of this survey struck an optimistic note that publics were willing to contribute to improve environmental quality. Logistic regression analysis was employed to compare the characteristics of those who were and were not willing to pay. Chi-square tests were administered to identify the relationships between various explanatory factors and WTP. Conclusions and implications of the empirical study can be provided to policy makers and site managers. In a wider sense, the findings of this study should make a good contribution to the literature related to WTP for environment conservation of natural attractions.