Stima della disponibilità a pagare per la salvaguardia di un’area protetta siciliana dagli incendi boschivi

Forest fires are a major concern in the Mediterranean regions and decision-makers devote large financial resources of the overall public forestry expenditure to their management. The research aims to provide an empirical contribution to the knowledge about the economic benefits deriving from fire protection of forest ecosystems. A case study is presented where we measured the TEV of reducing fire hazards to a cork-oak forest localised in a Sicilian protected area, using a dichotomous choice question in a Contingent Valuation Study. The magnitudes of the annual aggregate WTP estimates obtained range from € 32,745 to € 42,953, corrispondent to € 712 and € 934 per hectare, in order to protect the forest from fires, and are an evidence of the little interest of local community in the forest ecosystem protection.