The ecotourism environmental model (ecological, socio-economic) for Hyrcanian forests

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student, Department of Forestry and Forest Economics, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, I.R. Iran

2 Prof., Department of Forestry and Forest Economics, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, I.R. Iran

3 Assist., Prof., Department of Agricultural Extension & Education, Economics & Agricultural Development, University of Tehran, Karaj, I.R. Iran

Abstract

Forest natural attractions provide great potential for attracting tourists. The ecotourism recreational planning is necessary to prevent forest degradation and alleviate the pressure of forest-dweller communities on forest areas. It has a significant role in enhancing the cultural, social, and economic aspects of society as well as the protection of natural resources to achieve sustainable development. To achieve correct planning, it is necessary to assess the ecological capability of forest areas, align with the socio-economic capability to develop an accurate model. This study aimed to design an ecotourism environmental model for Hyrcanian forests located in the north of Iran. To develop the model, a set of ecological and socio-economic criteria along with relevant sub-criteria were identified through the literature review, then a questionnaire was designed to priority the set of criteria and sub-criteria based on the expert’s opinions. The entropy technique has been used to priority criteria, and fuzzy logic approach along with expert experiences applied to classify the sub-criteria. The results showed that 7 ecological criteria, 7 socio-economic criteria, 40 ecological sub-criteria, and 44 socio-economic sub-criteria, were effective on ecotourism based on expert’s opinions. The most important ecological and socio-economic criteria were water resources, vegetation, tourist attractions, and human historical and cultural aspects of forests, respectively, which the geological criteria were the less important criteria amongst others. Thus, the ecotourism environmental model was developed by a combination of the ecological capability model and socio-economic capability model for Hyrcanian forests.

Keywords

References

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Forest and Wood Products
Volume 74, Issue 2
September 2021
Pages 137-146

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