In this paper, the conservation benefits of rural landscape are investigated. The conservation benefits can be derived from two distinct properties of rural landscape: use value and existence value. These benefits can be attributed to both the farmers and the urban residents. The existence value of rural landscape can be derived from altruistic as well as paternalistic motives. It is shown that the existence value based upon altruistic motives is vanished in the cost-benefit calculation. The income transfer from urban residents to rural residents can be justified in terms of use value and existence value based upon paternalistic motives.
