Affiliation AdressKastamonu Uni. Faculty of Forestry

Department of Landscape ArchitectureAnkara Uni. Faculty of Agriculture

Department of Landscape Architecture

4th ESP International Conference 2011Ecosystem Services: Integrating Science and

Practice

ESTIMATING THE USE VALUE OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN THE YALOVA THERMAL SPRING,

TURKEY

04/10/2011 14:30Wageningen, Nederland

Assist.Prof.Dr. Nur BELKAYALIProf.Dr. Nevin AKPINAR

Introduction

A successful conservation also begins with the rational land use planning.

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The long-term sustainability of ecosystems and the services they generate depend on the conservation of biodiversity on a landscape scale.

Sustainable land use can be carried out in realization of demand,

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maintain a balance between the conservation of current and future productivity of the ecosystems.

meeting the needs also expectations for the growing population and

determining the value of provided benefits of the available resources with the rational use

and thus ensuring the sustainability of the resources with taken into account the current and future benefits of the environmental elements. In

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Estimating the use value of ecosystem services is a method for determining the population’s needs and expectations. The main objective of estimating the natural and cultural resources economic value is;

Intr

od

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be used; to improve in health, to heal and to freshen.

In this study we estimated the use value of ecosystem services in the Yalova Thermal Spring. Thermal sources are one of the non-monetary natural resources and have positive effects on human health.

Research Area

When we analyzed Yalova Thermal Spring, we determined that the primary gain in ecosystem services have been

recreation

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tourism

Yalova Thermal Spring is an important resource in the field of thermal tourism in Turkey. It has an importance and potential in terms of natural-cultural resources and landscapes values.

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Yalova Thermal is in northwestern of Turkey, and located in the southeast sector of the Marmara region.

Research area is in the Termal district which is connected to Yalova city.

Yalova Thermal Spring is located in 3.750 acres of natural forests, within archaeological and historical sites. R

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Method

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Travel Cost Method (TCM), is aiming to estimate the recreational use value of area with determining current demand. The assumption is accepted the travel cost equal to;

transportation cost and

time opportunity cost which spent for a recreation tour

Meth

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Demand function is estimated between travel costs and number of visits.

v=f(c,x) In the formula;v: number of visits,c: travel costs,x: all other variables

So, the accepted assumption is consists of a travel-production function that defined the relationship between the demand for area and incurred expenses.

Results

The main material of the study established from the face to face surveys that applied to the selected visitors through simple random sampling method.

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154 surveys applied in 2 different languages;

Turkish, English.

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Survey data have been made numerical by the help of SPSS 15.0 for Windows program and database was created.

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397.120 person visited Yalova Thermal Spring in 2007.

Firstly function tests were made to set the demand model variables.

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Model β Stand. error t value Sig.

1 Constant 1.556 .401 3.879 .000

Total travel cost -.001 .000 -3.746 .000

Age .038 .009 4.037 .000

Other than

accomodation.000 .000 -2.166 .032

Location range -.002 .001 -3.104 .002

Table 1. Coefficients for travel cost method

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In the calculation of consumer rant firstly individual’s consumer rant calculated. Consumer rant for the semi-logarithmic function type is as follows:  Consumer rant

CRYL=q/-βYL

CR: individual consumer rantq: individuals average visit numberβ: the slope of demand function (expense coefficient)

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In the formula q value is equal to the average of the visit total of the participating 154 visitors within a year. This value is 3,12. If this value replaced in the formula, individual consumer rant is equal to € 1.339.

When we calculated the coefficients only for tourist who come to Yalova Thermal Spring for health tourism:

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Table 2. Coefficients for travel cost method

Model β

Stand.

error

t

vaue. Sig.

1 Constant 2.847 .631 5.492 .000

Total travel cost -2.899603977E-4 .000 -.819 .424

Satisfaction level 0.022 .012 1.873 .078

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According to survey results which conducted to tourist who come to Yalova Thermal Spring for health tourism, q value is equal to 4,55. If this value replaced in the formula, individual consumer rant is equal to € 6.734.

Conclusions

According to the travel cost method, the annual consumer surplus value;

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531.765.836,91 € per year

was estimated for Yalova Thermal Spring.

Total Consumer Rant= 1.339 € x 397.120 visitor

Also according to survey results which conducted to tourist who come to Yalova Thermal Spring for health tourism, annual consumer surplus value;

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2.674.339.021,46 €/year

was estimated for Yalova Thermal Spring.

According to the results obtained from the study, the higher ecosystem service value was determined for the health tourism use of Yalova Thermal Spring.

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In conclusion,

So if a planning decision about the future of Yalova Thermal Spring will be taken, it should not be overlooked that spring has a higher value for health tourism use.

Thank You