Ecological Risk Assessment of Wetlands (A Case Study: Parishan International Wetland)

In the present, Most of wetlands due to changes in hydrological regime and surrounding land use have been away from their natural conditions. The risk assessment studies can be used to achieve a relatively realistic description of the ecological conditions, health and likelihood of risk in wetland areas. Parishan wetland which is located in southwest of Iran in Fars province, has been chosen as a case study for this research. This wetland faced to multi- threats and those are intensified in recent years. In this study, the most important threatening risks of the wetland and endpoints affected by the risks were identified. In the characteristics step, the risks were analyzed based on the severity and probability and level of risks have been identified. To manage and propose the control measures, with gathering expert opinions, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to prioritize these risks. According to the results of this study, water pollution caused by discharges of agriculture and rural sewages into the wetland, land use change in adjacent habitats, indiscriminate exploitation of the fish and birds of the wetland are the most important threatening risks of the wetland respectively. Finally, management strategies to reduce the risks are provided.