Economic valuation of natural resources: the case of the rangelands of Fthiotida Prefecture, Greece

Livestock farming is one of the most important factors for regional development and welfare, maintaining the social structure, particularly in mountainous and semi-mountainous areas. The purpose of this study was to assess the value that the cattle farmers of Fthiotida put in the grassland area, which they use for extensive grazing. For the economic valuation, the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) was used. This method has the potential to assess nonmarket values of property, considering the willingness of a sample of citizens to be compensated with some money (Willingness to accept, WTA) to agree to a degradation or loss of property. The CVM was applied by using questionnaires to a sample of cattle farmers engaged in extensive grazing. Then, the questionnaires were processed by methods of descriptive and applied statistics. The results showed a reluctance of the cattle farmers to accept such a loss.