Abstract
Global environmental degradation is partly caused by human environmental behavior. Therefore, tourist behavior in different regions can have a significant impact on environmental protection. One of the key factors that influences environmental behavior is people’s environmental attitudes. This study aimed to analyze how the new ecological paradigm’s attitude dimensions affect people’s willingness to pay as an indicator of environmental behavior in the Helen forest protected area. The sample size was determined based on the Cochran formula, and 230 questionnaires were distributed using a simple random sampling method. The questionnaires measured the new ecological paradigm and environmental behavior. Data analysis was conducted using structural equation modeling and SmartPLS 3.3 software. The results indicated that most tourists (83.04%) exhibited appropriate environmental behavior and were willing to pay for recreational use of the Helen forest. The structural equation analysis revealed that the new ecological paradigm’s dimensions of growth limits, nature-centeredness, fragility of nature’s balance, and rejection of human exemptionalism had a positive and significant influence on people’s willingness to pay. The results also showed that the new ecological paradigm’s dimensions explained 60.6 % of the variance in willingness to pay. The variables of environmental behavior and responsibility enhanced people’s willingness to pay for the environment. Therefore, it is suggested that policymakers implement educational programs on ecological environmental attitudes and environmentally friendly behaviors, and allocate adequate budget, to preserve and develop this natural heritage.
Introduction
In the present time, environmental conservation is one of the most urgent issues for countries. Forests are one of the most vital parts of the environment, providing most of the ecosystem services. Academic scholars try to understand the prevailing public attitudes towards ecological issues. By focusing on these topics, researchers aim to clarify new attitudinal concepts related to the environment. Environmental attitude is defined as a psychological tendency to express the assessment of the natural environment with a degree of favor or dissatisfaction. Environmental attitudes describe the extent to which people evaluate beliefs related to natural resources as favorable. Environmental attitude is having positive and negative feelings and thoughts towards environmentally beneficial behaviors. In fact, the importance of attitude lies in the fact that it is the basis of behavior and the precondition for environmental behavior. Therefore, solving environmental crises depends on changing the attitude and perceived value of humans towards the environment. As a result, one of the important variables for predicting human behavior is a person's attitude towards the environment. Research have shown that increasing the level of people's environmental attitudes is one of the effective ways to change their environmental behaviors. It is widely believed that environmental attitude is an important predictor of pro-environmental behavior intention, which leads to actual pro-environmental behavior. The argument is that attitudes determine behavioral intentions that can be expressed in people's willingness to pay for changes in environmental quality. In fact, environmental attitudes are an important motivation for behavioral goals of willingness to pay as a powerful predictor of environmental purchasing behavior. Payment for ecosystem services programs have emerged widely as a financial mechanism to address market failures related to non-market ecosystem services provided by forest ecosystems. Therefore, paying close attention to environmental attitudinal factors is essential and important for advancing sustainable development in developing countries, especially Iran. This issue is also relevant to tourist environmental behavior in a region’s willingness to pay, as tourist behavior has a significant impact on the environmental situation of that area. The current study examined how the new ecological paradigm, as the main environmental attitude, influences tourist willingness to pay in the protected Helen forest area of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province.
Methodology
The chosen research methodology involves conducting a survey, using a questionnaire as the primary tool for data collection. The environmental paradigm questions within the questionnaire were designed based on the Likert scale of five options. The questions were categorized into five dimensions: The reality of limits to growth, anti-anthropocentrism, the fragility of the natural balance, the rejection of exceptionalism, and the possibility of an ecocrisis. The statistical population for visitors to the Helen forest protected area was determined using the Cochran formula, resulting in a determined sample size of 230 individuals. Data analysis was performed using Smart-PLS and SPSS software.
This study utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the components of environmental attitude, with a specific emphasis on the new environmental paradigm, as related to the dependent variable WTP. SEM is a powerful, multivariate technique found ncreasingly in scientific investigations to test and evaluate multivariate causal relationships. SEM differ from other modeling approaches as they test the direct and indirect effects on pre-assumed causal relationships. Structural equation modeling allows researchers to turn a hypothesis into a testable model. This technique uses statistical methods like correlation, regression, and analysis of variance. It evaluates relationships between two types of variables: 1) manifest/observed variables measured directly, and 2) latent/unobserved variables. In this study SEM was applied using the partial least squares method.

Conclusion
The results showed examination of the questionnaire of the new environmental paradigm, that the item “Plants and animals have the right to live as much as humans” had the highest average of 4.28. The results of the environmental behavior of the tourists in terms of their willingness to pay for using the recreational services of the protected area of Helen Forest showed that 83.04 percent of the people were willing to pay a fee for using and benefiting from the tourism and recreational activities in the area of Helen Forest. Therefore, it can be said that a high percentage of the tourists with a positive environmental attitude were willing to pay a fee. This showed that there was a positive relationship between the environmental attitudes and the willingness to pay, which indicated the relationship between the environmental behavior and the willingness to support it financially. In evaluating the research model the measurement model was evaluated. Thus, the validity and reliability of the model were initially evaluated. Validity was assessed by convergent validity and divergent validity and reliability by factor loading, Cronbach's Alpha and combined reliability. Convergent validity was assessed using extracted variance (AVE). Since the obtained values for all variables are higher than 0.5, convergent validity is confirmed. The factor load for each reagent in the model constructs was greater than 0.5. Since all Dimensions are higher than 0.7, the Cronbach's Alpha and combined reliability was also confirmed. Divergent validity was examined by Fornell methods. Thus, the square root of AVE is compared with the correlation between latent variables. The value of the AVE root of all latent variables is greater than the correlation value between them. In examining the components of environmental attitude, the path coefficient of the growth restriction variables, nature orientation, the fragility of the balance of nature, and the rejection of the idea of human exemption had a significant relationship with the willingness to pay. However, the environmental crisis variable did not show a significant effect on visitors' willingness to pay. The paradigm dimensions explained 60.6% of willingness to pay changes. This shows environmental attitude strongly influences behaviors like willingness to pay for forest recreation. It indicates the people-nature relationship. This approach considers environmental attitudes necessary to understand social conditions. Since attitudes positively shape awareness towards behaviors, and the dimensions explained much variance, attitudes should first be directed towards green, ecological views to improve supportive behaviors.