Journal of Environmental Management 88 (2008) 1350–1360 A travel cost study to estimate recreational value for a bird refuge at Lake Manyas, Turkey Serkan Gu¨rlu¨k à , Erkan Rehber Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Uludag˘, 16059 Go¨ru ¨ kle, Bursa, Turkey Received 14 July 2006; received in revised form 16 June 2007; accepted 7 July 2007 Available online 4 September 2007 Abstract This paper investigates the recreational economic value of bird watching in the Kus -cenneti National Park (KNP) at Lake Manyas, one of the Ramsar sites of Turkey and an important endangered species habitat. The lake and KNP provide considerable benefits for the region, although they have faced many environmental conflicts due to diverse stakeholders’ needs. An economic valuation for the benefits provided by the KNP is important data for stakeholders and local authorities. The travel cost method is used to estimate recreational demand for the KNP. The recreational value of the KNP is 103,320,074 USD annually. Results shed light on important policy issues and help to resolve conflicts among stakeholders. This calculated value is considerably higher than the annual investment and operation expenditures of the KNP. Sustainability of the important species around the lake could be achieved if the region’s inhabitants are compensated by KNP visitors. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Environmental valuation; Travel cost method; Wetlands; Water resources 1. Introduction Degradation and depletion of natural resources, a more distant human—nature relationship, as well as other environmental problems are common. There is growing concern about environmental issues and an increasing demand for recreational activities and resources such as wetlands. Since the 1970s, increasing pressures on natural resources and the social costs of over-exploitation have been recognized as important issues on the global agenda. Consequently, social costs of resource-depleting human activities and benefits provided by natural resources have gained importance. In this context, environmental valua- tion methods have been widely applied to value benefits and losses to support sustainable management of natural resources (Barbier et al., 1997; Brander et al., 2007; Sterner, 2003). The demand for wetlands has increased in Turkey. Wetlands face major competition for water due to a high population growth rate, rapid industrialization and crop irrigation water demands. Twelve Ramsar sites were recently established in Turkey. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is an international treaty adopted in 1971. Ramsar is the first of the modern global treaties on conservation and wise use of wetlands. Contracting parties have agreed to conserve wetlands in accordance with the Ramsar principles. Lake Manyas is the most important Ramsar Lake in Turkey and home to Kus -cenneti National Park (KNP) Bird Refuge, the study area of this paper. Under the Ramsar Convention, actions such as ‘‘Inte- grated Wetland Management Plans’’ have been implemen- ted to protect and improve such areas. Thus, economic valuation of these actions and activities has also gained importance to provide supporting information to managers (Gu¨rlu¨k and Rehber, 2006). However, it is difficult to evaluate all economic benefits provided by wetlands because they have a wide range of hard-to-value uses. The benefits arising from environmen- tal resources are classified in the total economic value ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman 0301-4797/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.07.017 à Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: serkan@uludag.edu.tr (S. Gu¨rlu¨k), rehber@uludag.edu.tr (E. Rehber).