Evaluation of ecological potential of outdoor recreation development in Gaz forests of Varamin city using multi-criteria evaluation approach and GIS

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assist. Prof., Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran.

2 Ph.D. in Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, I.R. Iran.

3 MSc in Environment, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Arak, Arak, I.R. Iran.

10.22059/jfwp.2022.348194.1221

Abstract

The arid and semi-arid areas in the south of Varamin city are one of the areas that are prioritized for the implementation of tourism development and conservation programs due to soil erosion conditions, excess livestock grazing and destruction of pastures and vegetation. Therefore, the purpose of this research is a comprehensive evaluation of the ecological conditions to evaluate the environmental potential of recreation in this area. For this purpose, first, soil and vegetation samples were taken from sample plots from all three areas of Dolat Abad, Shokar Abad and Fakhr Abad in Varamin, and the required data and maps were prepared. Soil samples were collected and important soil parameters were determined in each sample and maps of these parameters were prepared. Then, the evaluation of the environmental potential of tourism was done by the method of intersecting ecological maps. For this purpose, the mapping of ecological factors, including slope, aspect, height, density of vegetation, precipitation, and temperature, as well as soil texture, was done. They were classified and coded according to the degree of desirability for wide recreation and then superimposed, and finally, the 1st and 2nd grade capacity classes and the unfavorable classes were created from the combination of these layers. In terms of totality and summation of ecological factors affecting the potential of tourism, Shakarabad region has more potential than the other two regions of Fakhrabad and Daulatabad. In general, what has caused the difference and superiority of tourism in Shakarabad region compared with the other two regions is the soil factor, which has caused the development of tourism in Shakarabad region to be higher than the other two regions. Another important factor is the land use and the proximity of this area to the desert protected area, which itself provides a high potential in the Shakarabad region for the development of outdoor recreation. The results of this research showed that by combining the multi-criteria evaluation method and the geographic information system and considering all the ecological factors, the real potential of outdoor recreation in forest areas and reserves can be determined.

Keywords

References

[1]. Rahimpour, A. (2012). Statistical analysis of world tourism industry, future markets and Iran's position. Tourism, 1(1): 1-10. )In Persian(.
[2]. Barzekar, G.H. (2020). Compilation of zone indicators in forest parks in order to develop sustainable tourism in the Hyrcanian Forests. National Conference, Karaj, Iran.
[3]. Hong, C., and Chan, N.W. (2011). The role of driving force-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) framework on Penang National Park. Malaysian Journal of Environmental Management, 12(1): 85-95.
[4]. Goličnik, B., and Thompson, C.W. (2010). Emerging relationships between design and use of urban park spaces. Landscape and Urban Planning, 94(1): 38-53.
[5]. Bagheri, M., Ansari, A., Kazemi, A., Bayat, M., and Heidari, S. (2021). Investigating the spatial distribution pattern of parks and green spaces in Khomein city using the landscape approach and Sentinel 2 satellite images. Geographical Information, 30 (118): 203-216. )In Persian(.
[6]. Mohed, A., Kehzadi, S., and Abedinzadeh, F. (2013). Ecotourism development strategies of Kurdistan province using SWOT and QSPM Model. Applied Research of Geographical Sciences (Geographical Sciences), 14(32): 181-204. )In Persian(.
[7]. Barzehkar, G.H (2020). Effective indicators in leisure planning. National Conference, Karaj., Iran.
[8]. Mirakhororlou, Kh., Teimouri, S., and Bordbar, S.K. (2016) Ecotourism Zonation of Zagros forests based on outing models using RS & GIS, The fourth congress of environment, energy and bio-defense, Tehran. Iran.
[9]. Fangyong, HE. (2015). Evaluation of the ecotourism development potential for provinces in western China. Journal of Arid Land Resourse and Environment, 4: 592-599.
[10]. Choudhury, S., Mohan Pant, R., Chatterjee, S., and Nanding, A. (2016). Destination branding of ziro through potentiality of biotourism. Bioprospecting of Indigenous Bioresources of North- East India, 329-337
[11]. Berry, J. (1991), Misrepresenting Communities: the policy of community-based ruralecotourism in gales point manatee. Belize. Rural Sociology, 64 (4).
[12]. Jaafari, F., Rasoulzadeh, Z., and Hamidi, A. (2019). Analysis of the distribution of urban parks with the approach of spatial justice (case study: Benab city). Urban Social Geography, 6.1: 43-56. )In Persian(.
[13]. Fallahtabar, N. (2017). Evaluating the role of rural women in handicrafts and promoting sustainable rural development (case study of Javadabad and Varramin). New Attitudes in Human Geography, 10 (2): 129-146. In Persian.
[14]. Schmitt, S., Raevel, V., Réjou Méchain, M., Ayyappan, N., Balachandran, N., Barathan, N., Rajashekar, G., and Munoz, F. (2021). Canopy and understorey tree guilds respond differently to the environment in an Indian rain forest. Journal of Vegetation Science, 32(5), 13075.
[15]. Bayat, M., Noi, P.T., Zare, R., and Bui, D.T. (2019). A semi-empirical approach based on genetic programming for the study of biophysical controls on diameter-growth of Fagus orientalis in northern Iran. Remote Sensing, 11(14): 1680.
[16]. Elmizadeh, H. (2018). Analysis of morphology and slope in relation to erosion. Sepehr Quarterly, 80: 83-79. )In Persian(.
[17]. Bayat, M., Burkhart, H., Namiranian, M., Hamidi, S.K., Heidari, S., and Hassani, M. (2021a). Assessing biotic and abiotic effects on biodiversity index using machine learning. Forests, 12: 461.
[18]. Bayat, M., Bettinger, P., Heidari, S., Hamidi, S.K. and Jaafari, A. (2021b). A Combination of Biotic and Abiotic Factors and Diversity Determine Productivity in Natural Deciduous Forests. Forests, 12(11), p.1450.
[19]. Heidari Mastali, S., Jabarian Amiri, B., and Alizadeh Shabani, A. (2014). Determining the ecological vulnerability of Targaba Shandiz city using the objective method of vulnerability. Natural Environment, 213-223. )In Persian(.
[20]. Bayat, M., Namiranian, M. and Zobeiri, M., (2014). Volume, height and wood production modeling using the changes in a nine years rotation (case study: Gorazbon district in Kheyroud forest, north of Iran). Forest and Wood Products, 67(3), pp.423-435. )In Persian(.
[21]. Makhdoum, M. (2013). Fandamental of land use planning. Tehran University Publications. Tehran. Iran. 300 p. )In Persian(.
[22]. Bricker, K., and Kerstetter, L. (2002). Deborah Ecotourists and Ecotourism: Benefit Segmentation and Experience Evaluation, pp: 1-5
[23]. Chang, N. B., Parvathinathan, G., and Breeden, J.B. (2008). Combining GIS with fuzzy multi-criteria decisionmaking for landfill sitting in a fastgrowing urban region. Environmental Management, 87: 139- 153.
Forest and Wood Products
Volume 75, Issue 4
March 2023
Pages 341-353

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics