An Economic Assessment of Dead Sea Preservation and Restoration

The level of the Dead Sea has been dropping rapidly over the last decades as a result of diversion of waters from upstream tributaries and intensive mineral extraction along its shores.This has led to a wide range of environmental damage throughout the basin.This study provides partial estimates of the non-market economic value of conservation of the Dead Sea basin to the local population.Two methods were used to assess these values, one a revealed preference model — travel cost — and the other a stated preference model — contingent valuation.All three local populations, Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian, demonstrated a substantial willingness to pay to preserve the environmental and cultural heritage of the region.Hopefully these estimates will be useful in assessments of the relative merits of various options for conservation and development of the Dead Sea region presently being undertaken by the governments of the region.