1、National parks and protected areas are the base for global conservation initiatives.They provide a range of benefits for the society in the form of consumptive and non-consumptive uses.However, it is quite difficult to c

2、alculate economic benefits associated with national parks and protected areas in monetary terms as they are not subject to economic valuation by the price mechanism used for normal goods.So, it is necessary to use non-ma

3、rket valuation techniques in order to estimate monetary values of natural resources.These values can provide information needed for the parks management taking decisions and ensuring the implementation of effective conse

4、rvation policy.This research applied travel cost method (TCM) to calculate consumer surplus of the visitors of the National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha", one of the biggest and richest in natural resources in the Republi

5、c of Belarus.This park posses a high visitation level and is well regarded for its unique values.For the implementation of the method, the on-site questionnaire survey of the visitors was conducted aiming to collect info

6、rmation on visitors to the park, their socio-demographical characteristics and expenses during the visit, and their perception of the park and services provided.Based on questionnaires analyzed, results of regression ana

7、lysis used to describe the relationship between travel costs and number of visits, and other calculations conclusions were made and several recommendations provided.They can be used to guide future park development, info