Analysis of ecotourism-based wetland ecosystem conservation of Ramsar site: A case study from the southeastern part of Iran

Nature, mainly the wetland ecosystem services, is the predominant tourist attraction worldwide. This study conducted a choice modeling method based on environmental attributes contributing to nature-based tourism for preserving the quality of the wetland ecosystem in Govater Bay and Hur-e-Bahu international wetland (GIW) in southeastern Iran. Besides inclusion in the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the GIW is particularly interesting because it hosts various valuable aquatic species, such as mangrove forests (Avicennia marina), migratory birds, dolphins, and turtles. According to the results, if the current condition of the GIW ecosystem continues, public participation will decrease as unwillingness to pay for environmental conservation purposes. It was also found that educated visitors are willing to pay more for GIW conservation policy options compared to less-educated ones. Consequently, concerning the visitors’ perception, the “Dolphin Observability (DO)” has the highest conservation (existence) value, followed by the natural landscape of Mangrove forest coverage (NW) in the second rank. Finally, some suggestions and development strategies are provided based on the empirical findings to improve the sustainability and conservation of the GIW ecosystem.