مجید مخدوم

Tourism in forests  can be effective in developing forest management plans, specially during forest rest periods. Forest areas are important for the protection of ecosystems and natural resources, as well as providing recreational opportunities for people. Therefore, forest recreation, as a form of tourism development, is a significant factor that provides many direct and indirect economic, social, cultural, and environmental benefits.  The aim of this research is to design and complete the forest road network and add walking paths with the goal of tourism development in Kheyrud Forest using the capabilities of artificial neural networks and GIS.  

Initially, layers of slope, aspect, elevation, geology, soil, canopy cover percentage, and existing roads were prepared, and each layer was internally classified and weighted. The internal classification of the layers was done based on the opinion of an expert and researcher in the field of forest engineering and forest tourism, and the weighting of the layers was performed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. By integrating the various layers and their corresponding weights using the Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) method, a suitability map of the Patam section was prepared as the training section for the neural network to pass the road network. The value of each cell from the shapes, along with coordinates, was extracted using ArcGIS software, and all data were mapped to a range of 1 to 5. In this research, a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) neural network with 30 neurons in the hidden layer was used for modeling. The data on slope, aspect, elevation, geology, soil, canopy cover percentage, and existing roads were used as inputs, and the suitability data for the Patam section road passage was used as the output for training the network. The neural network estimated the suitability for each of the three active forest sections based on the Patam section.

The overlaying of the existing road network layers, landscape map, and suitability map of the research area showed that the existing road network has made many areas with tourism potential accessible to tourists. Therefore, to complete the access network to areas with tourism potential in the forest, using the PEGGER extension in the ArcView software environment and considering the landscape shape and suitability shape, walking paths of approximately 14 kilometers were designed. During the design, efforts were made to ensure that the road passes through more desirable areas (pixels with lower values). According to the results, the MLP artificial neural network, with a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.902 and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.126, showed greater ability than linear regression in estimating the suitability value for road passage.

The results of this research demonstrate the capability of the intelligent method based on artificial neural networks and GIS for designing and planning the road network. The findings indicate an increase in the learning ability of the MLP network with an increase in iterations up to the 7th iteration.

In terms of natural structure and geographical location, our land has major constraints on the biological and sustainable production of biological systems, and most of its biomes are forests that naturally have fragile biological systems and, if exploited outside their capability, they are simply exposed to destruction. Therefore, due to the multifunctional nature of forests, it is necessary to assess the environmental impacts of forest management plans. The main purpose of the present study is to evaluate the impacts of forest activities as well as planning to minimize and prevent negative environmental impacts and maximize the positive environmental impacts of the Lirehsara forest management plan using the destruction model approach. In this regard, environmental degradation modeling was performed to determine the environmental impacts of forestry activities in the Mashalak Forest. In this study, compartments were selected as the impact unit. After determining the degradation factors, 14 identified factors were included in the model and the final destruction map was created. The results of the degradation model showed that the study area was divided into four zones of potential development, requiring restoration 1 and 2 and requiring conservation measures. Accordingly, 49.70% of the study area was in degradation class 1 and susceptible to development, 35.15% and 9.78% in degradation class 2 and 3, respectively, in need of restoration and 5.3% in degradation class 5 and in need of protection measures. According to the results of this study, it is recommended that protection measures and further development in the area be prioritized and remedial measures for forest protection should be considered. One of these measures could be the elimination of the destructive factor of the mine and the other non-accumulation of waste in the forest.

Sustainable development and sustainability will be achieved if there is a balance between the human dimension and ecosystem. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the sustainability and resilience of forest ecosystems in the Totshami watershed, which seeks to maintain a balance between the human and ecosystem dimensions. Implementation of this model includes assessing the sustainability and determining the resilience of the basin. ArcGIS software was used to analyze and measure the sustainability of the IUCN method and after the final combination of indicators and criteria to produce the map. Identification of functions of the basin with 54 types of functions and was classified into four major services: provider, regulator, habitat and culture. Based on the research results, the final score was 35 for ecosystem dimensions and 50 for human dimensions. The two main objectives including maximizing the water production and minimizing the annual soil losses, along with responding to local demand, have been achieved in the process of optimizing the functions in this study. According to the projected watershed management operations in the basin, it is expected that the ecosystem sector will reach the desired level of sustainability, and in order for the basin to remain sustainable, the economic and social sections must also be considered, and it can be achieved by taking steps to improve people's living standards. Evaluation of the results of Totshami watershed resilience measurement during indicates low tolerance threshold and flexibility of Zagros forests and the result is a reduction in the resilience of these ecosystems to potential threats and disruptions.

The balance between water supply and demand and the related services is a key issue in land planning with a water resources management approach. The purpose of this study is to establish a proper supply flow through mapping surface water production service in the Haraz Watershed using the water yield model as a supply and demand utility. In this study, based on the input layers including limiting root depth, average annual rainfall, water content plant availability, reference evapotranspiration, land use/land cover, biophysical table, as well as watershed boundaries and sub-basins surface water production service was modeled. Then, the demand map of the watershed was prepared based on programmable water in the water yield model, and the flow between supply and demand was calculated to form the equilibrium and imbalances.The results show that the Payabeheraz sub-basin with an annual water yield of 69 million m3, due to precipitation of 618 mm per year, concentration of agricultural lands, and urban areas, had the highest water yield in 2017. In the meantime, Payabetalar and the Siahroud sub-basins, owning the amount of industrial lands in addition to the agricultural lands, and high population concentration, have the highest demand with an annual average of 800 million m3. Besides, the results indicate that in the Haraz watershed, the imbalance in supply and demand has led to a lot of pressure on the water resources so that continuing the current situation, a sharp decline in the water resources is imminent. In order to balance and maintain stability in both demand and supply sections, reallocating the population (to reduce demand in the pressurized sub-basins) and land cover/land use arrangement (to increase the supply and maintenance of water resources) have been proposed.

Urban development and land use pattern changes have far-reaching environmental effects. Increasing the size and number of cities in the future Human activities such as changing land uses, consuming more resources and emitting pollutants have negative effects on the functioning and structure of the urban system and disrupt the circulation of materials and energy. Population growth, different social and economic conditions of cities, providing high quality housing in cities, fragmentation, destruction of natural habitats due to urban development, while becoming one of the major challenges for managers and planners, It has forced cities to withstand pressures beyond the carrying capacity of environmental refinement and reabsorption capacity. Urban carrying capacity refers to the amount of population or development that can continue in an area without any impact in the area that is too acceptable. This article tries to look at the city of Karaj as a system that has been disrupted due to human intervention, structure, function and processes, and through the correct identification of pressure forces, resources and reservoirs and analysis of their status. To study and monitor the pressures resulting from development in urban regressed systems and by monitoring the indicators of pressure on the urban environment, the stability of the city in the form of load number index and finally in the process of planning and environmental management the life of Karaj city should be used. The study of the Total Load Numbers (TLN) obtained in the districts of Karaj shows that none of the urban districts at the time of the study, according to the 18 indicators, is in the range of the optimal total load number. district 1 of Karaj city had high-to-very high range.

In this study, in order to evaluate the pressure on the urban environment in the city of Karaj, after reviewing information sources and frost documents and preparing existing maps, a number of effective indicators based on weighting analysis and calculating the coefficient of importance of indicators using the method entropy and SMART FILTER were determined. Then, the loading numbers were calculated for each of the indicators in the degrees of carrying capacity and the mapping of these indicators was done in GIS and in each of the areas based on these loading numbers. Finally, the zoning and status of each area of Karaj was determined based on environmental pressure and loading number model (Figure 1).In this research, using the PSIR framework, in addition to structuring information, it is possible to determine important relationships as well as achieve a comprehensive understanding of environmental problems and finally to achieve practical and environmental management solutions. Therefore, effective indicators in the context of pressure-status-effect-response are selected to assess the state of the urban environment (table 3).In order to create a model of loading number from the city board, each of the indicators, in case of minimum allowed (desirable) and maximum allowed or allowed (threshold) is classified into 6 categories and according to the amount and intensity of the index within the allowed limit Winning is given to them to the degree that is called the degree of carrying capacity (DCC) (table 1).In this model, indicators are placed in 6 categories called "Degree of Carrying Capacity (DCC)".In order to calculate the degree of carrying capacity of the indicators, the standards, base values and tariffs for each indicator have been used, which have been calculated for the group of selected indicators, including status, pressure and effects indicators (table 2).In order to compile the spatial model of urban board capacity based on PSIR framework, the indicators are selected using Smart Filter and entropy methods and their importance coefficient is determined. Table 3 shows the importance coefficients of indicators.After determining the importance coefficients of indicators by the importance coefficient matrix, DCC of each indicator was multiplied by its IC. The resulting number represents the pressure on the urban ecosystem based on the concept of carrying capacity. It also indicates the priority of pressure indicators called the load number (LN). LN= DCC x ICTo evaluate the total carrying capacity of 18 pressure indictors, the carrying capacity table and the total pressure number of 18 indicators were used (Table 4).

After determining the DCC and LN of 18 indicators in Karaj, the total load number of these indicators was calculated (Table 6) and the LN maps were prepared (Figure 3, 7). This maps shows the distribution of pressure in different areas of Karaj and is an appropriate tool to investigate and locate critical points and to compare the overall situation in different areas. The total load numbers of the studied zones in the areas of Karaj city and the areas with the highest number of loads were identified and prioritized. Then. In each region, the priority of each indicator in creating pressure was examined (table 5).After calculating the values of the load numbers of each indicator in the study zones, district 1 with the loading number of 312.845, which is in the 3rd to 4th group of the carrying capacity of the total loading number degree, has the highest amount of loading number, the highest of which in the group of indicators is equal to 236.18 and belongs to the indicators, The situation. Then the pressure indices with loading number 47.88 and in the third place are the effect indices with loading number 28.785.The results of this study show that the city of Karaj exceeds the desired environmental level with high pressure on the urban carrying capacity and reveals the need for management and planning to reduce the pressure on the land in the urban areas of Karaj.It should be noted that obtaining the final loading number means a very high pressure and is within the threshold of all indicators, which seems unbearable to achieve, placing the loading number in this range can indicate a high and threshold of most Indicators and requires special attention to the situation of the land in the area whose loading number is mentioned in the range.According to the load number model studied in this study, the applicability of this model in all urban areas is shown and it is easy to compare the load numbers from each urban area to compare the environmental pressure on the urban ecosystem.

Tourism development by planning the principles of access roads can help the management and development of villages in natural and protected areas. This study aimed at planning and developing the access roads to achieve the tourism and rural areas as the recreational attractions in Arasbaran protected area. For this purpose, the road network options were designed for three different scenarios to access the recreational and rural areas in GIS environment and evaluated in terms of technical, environmental and socio-economic aspects. In the next stage, the existing road network was modified according to the optimal-designed road options. Finally, the modified versions of the existing road network were proposed for tourism development and management in the region. Thus, the variants of the existing road network, the optimal-designed road network and the modified-road network were evaluated and compared. Moreover, among the designed options, the 10th option in three different scenarios to access the recreational areas and the minimum, medium, and maximum villages with densities of 4.17, 4.93, and 5.86 mha-1, respectively, was chosen as the optimal option to modify the existing road network. Finally, the modified road networks with densities of 3.98, 4.66, and 5.55 mha-1 and accessibilities of 72.7, 76.19, and 78.33 percent were proposed for these three scenarios. According to assessment and comparison of the variants, the optimal-designed road networks and the modified road networks were identified as the better alternatives compared to the existing road network. Tourism management and development in Arasbaran by principled planning and development of access roads can lead to prosperity of economic activities and improve the rural development in this area.

Forests and the environment play important role in providing income, food, energy, medicines and genetic resources, and a variety of essential materials for the well-being and living conditions of the people and the preservation of culture. In this research, an attempt has been made to elucidate the functions of forests and the environment in Iran and their links to food security and nutrition by reviewing documents and referring to statistics and data of national and international organizations. Direct forest and environment ecosystem services include the sale of wood products, fuel wood or firewood and by-products or   non-wood products. In this study, the statistics related to Iran's forests were briefly pointed out, which include revenues from the harvesting of wood and non-wood products, energy obtained from firewood in cooking for optimal use of food and the direct role of some  non-wood products in direct provision in the food system. Indirect forest and environment ecosystem services play a major role in the “availability” and “stability” components of food systems, including biodiversity, climate change, water regulation and quality, and soil and nutrient cycling conservation. Biodiversity makes production and livelihood systems more resilient to shock and stress including climate change. Climate change and climate diversity threaten the provision of a wide range of important products (timber and         non-timber) and forest environmental services. In this study, while examining the relationship between global environmental changes and food security, the strategies for overcoming the current situation were enumerated.

The socioeconomic situation in the Zagros Forests has provided conditions for the overexploitation in this region, which has raised concerns about the intensified decline of ecosystem services in these forests. In this study, soil and water protection services (as the most important regulatory functions of the Zagros Forests) were economically estimated in the Sarvabad basin of Kurdistan province. Then, the trend of change in their values was examined in two scenarios of 1) reaching all the forests of the basin with 30-50% canopy (first scenario) and 2) conversion of forests to sparse forests with 5% canopy (second scenario). The results showed that the average annual value for soil protection, i.e. preventing land loss and sediment control is 27002.82 IRR per ha, while the average annual value for water protection is 790000 IRR per ha. We also estimated the changes in the total annual value of soil protection function by assuming the first scenario, which increased by 34.83%. In case of the second scenario, it decreased by 37.3%. Moreover, the first scenario was able to add 29.96% to the value of the water protection function of these forests, whereas 33.54% of the value of the water protection function decreased for the second scenario. Decrease in the value of ecosystem services due to the tree canopy reduction in this study emphasizes the importance of protection and restoration of the Zagros Forests ecosystem to maintain and provide valuable ecosystem services.

Recreational use of the area must be performed conforms to its ecological capability. Therefore, this study was carried out with the aim of providing a method for modelling and ranking the areas with ecotourism capability. For this purpose, Makhdoum systemic method, regarding to the region specifications, and multi-layer perceptron artificial neural network (MLP) were used to evaluate the ecological capability of Arasbaran protected area. At first, ecological and socio-economic resources were identified and maps of them were provided. Then, ecotourism capability map was prepared by analyzing and overlaying of data in ArcGIS. In the next step, using the results of the systemic method, neural network was trained and its various structures were evaluated. Finally, map of the suitable tourism areas was modeled based on neural network output. In the end, using the socio-economic criteria and recreational attractions, prioritize and final evaluation was performed. Regarding to the systemic analysis, the area has the capability for intensive recreation class-2 (0.06%), and extensive recreation class-2 (10.33%). Topology 7-9-3 was selected as the best classifier with an overall accuracy of 98% for recreational regions classification. The best and the lowest of neural network application were shown to belong to intensive recreation class, and extensive recreation class, respectively. Based on modeled map, 0.17%, 10.09%, and 89.74% of the area were shown to belong to intensive recreation-class 2, extensive recreation-class 2, and unsuitable for recreation, respectively. This study showed artificial neural network has potential for classification of the suitable tourism areas with high accuracy.

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.

Currently, Iranian Forest resources planning is dominated by national, regional and sub-regional planning causing numerous damages to forests. In this study, the necessity of using a spatial forest resources planning process for macro management of country's forest resources and presenting the analytical model to the current practice has been investigated. Given the nature of macro perspective of spatial planning which contains various development plans and environmental protection simultaneously, the selection of this model provides a suitable strategy in the process of macro forest resources planning. The model presented here was conducted using qualitative analysis, citation analysis and content analysis. In the proposed model, the development process uses the nature of the performance and function of forest ecosystems based on the structure and biological processes of the ecosystem (Ecosystem analysis). On the other hand, the process employs the correlation between human and nature (Human Ecology).‌ This model can be conducted in five stages including analysis of the existing conditions of customary forest areas, evaluation of ecosystem services supply, assessment of forest resources demand, determining the units of management and optimizing the distribution of services. By implementing the spatial forest resource planning, a sustainable approach can be achieved in planning the forest resources of Iran.

The road network is an important element for sustainable forest ecosystem management. On the other hand, efficiency and quality of road design can be improved by considering of environmental and technical principles. Therefore, this study was performed to determine the capability of Arasbaran protected area for road passing and communication routes in order to use in the area management. For this purpose, criteria of the slope, aspect, height, soil texture, lithology, erosion susceptibility, vegetation density, distance to stream, and distance to existing road as the effective criteria for road design were identified by literature review, and their prepared maps were standardized with the fuzzy logic method. Then, the criteria were weighted using of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and finally were combined to prepare suitability map for road planning by weighted linear combination (WLC) method. According to results, the highest weight (0.289) and the lowest weight (0.033) were belonged to slope and height criterion, respectively. Finally, the area was classified into four classes with the capability of low, medium, high and very high for road network passing, that region with medium passing capability has the highest percent (49.83%). The study proved GIS and AHP capabilities considering to economic and environmental problems for developing the road capability map in order to use for road locating in Arasbaran area.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a supportive and important tool for sustainable development. A tool that easily establishes the relationship between the economy, society, health and the environment and plays an important role in advancing sustainable development goals. One of the factors that can be effective in performing a proper environmental impact assessment is its proper training. In EIA, the concept of training is a combination of information transmission, knowledge, and most often goal-based skills, legal requirements, procedures, approaches, and process-related tools. Since EIA has found its legal place in policy making of countries, its training has also been required to develop the users' software and the formal skills. In Iran, EIA training has a history of more than thirty years. Today there may be a greater need for EIA training through new technologies. Training in knowledge web format combines knowledge and technology together to respond to users' needs well and in an up-to-date manner. This paper presents the Knowledge Network using an ontology model for EIA in Iran. The upper ontology classifies the concepts and communications in the process of preparing and implementing EIA, and the lower ontology introduces a variety of Multimedia Objects (MMOs) by developing appropriate training scenarios. This ontology can be transformed into a computer language and gives users access to a variety of concepts in the field of environmental impact assessment in a semantic web format. The ontology- based knowledge network for EIA is a solution for the existing needs and deficiencies in the system of EIA education. It creates coordination between trainings. And according to the development of virtual education in different aspects in Iran, it can update and complete with MMOs. The ontology of EIA can be modified, refined and developed and also be integrated with other ontologies in common.
 
 
 
 
 
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It is necessary to evaluate sustainable spatial allocation of afforestation. For this purpose, this study was conducted in the Kan watershed of Tehran province to assess the suitability of land for afforestation. First, suitable tree species were chosen based on land characteristics of study area and purpose of restoration. Then, the ecological demands of tree species were investigated and effective Indicators that affect the evaluation process were identified. After processing, classification and integration of spatial layers in GIS using the system analysis method, a random forest algorithm was trained and suitability map of afforestation was produced. Results show that Random Forest method has high accuracy in predicting suitable areas for afforestation. Also, 2116 ha of the study area is moderately suitable for afforestation. Based on Boruta algorithm Soil depth, growing season precipitation, elevation, soil texture, slope, and aspect are considered as the most important to the least important features, respectively and it is not necessary to carry out weighting methods for evaluation of afforestation capability. Generally, the Random Forest method can be used as a capable way to prepare ecological capability maps.

The northern mountains of Tehran are amongst the most valuable natural ecosystems in Iran, which have been destroyed in recent decades due to improper use of land and land-use changes. Therefore, studies on the land-use changes via spatial occurrence probability maps are necessary to deal with this phenomenon. In the present study land use/land cover of 2000 and 2017 were mapped using Landsat satellite images by supervised classification method and maximum likelihood algorithm for the Kan watershed in the Tehran Province. In order to determine the most important factors affecting land-use change as well as zoning the probability of changes, digital data of biophysical (nine variables) and human (four variables) factors were analyzed in the GIS. Finally, the map of probability of land-use changes was produced by applying logistic regression. Validation of the model was performed using relative operating characteristic, which indicated the high ability of the model to describe the changes and determine the areas prone to changes. The results showed that about 60% of the Kan watershed is classified as highly prone to land-use changes. In those areas, variables such as elevation, aspect, slope, soil depth, average growing season precipitation, and average growing season temperature were identified as the most important factors affecting the land-use changes. Conclusively, the results of this research indicated significant land use/cover changes in the studied area during the recent years, as well as a high occurrence probability of future land-use changes.

The management of areas with landscape ecological approach helps us to have more integrated of considering completely management and also keep the area’s values. Lar National Park and Varjin Protected Area are the most important areas of their biodiversity and wildlife habitats. The aim of this study was quantification of fragmentation in Lar National Park and Varjin Protected Area and to compare managements and Integration assessment of Rangeland habitats in study area. For this reason Land use map was prepared using RS and GIS techniques. Then we surveyed, the fragmentation of the areas at the level of the class and the landscape using landscape’s metrics. Finally, we used fragmentation geometries methods to study the effect of human factors on rangeland habitats, the results show that Lar National Park is more integrated than the Varjin Protected Area. Also, outbuildings and changing suitable habitats to gardens and agricultural lands cause fragmentation and disintegration in Varjin protected area. The results of the metrics in the geometries of fragmentation show that the roads are the most influencing factors on the fragmentation of good range lands in Lar National Park and Varjin Protected Area, also, man-made structures have caused disintegration and negative impact on the wildlife habitat in the study area.

Today, most of protected areas in the country require serious monitoring and protection measures due to reduction of quality. Degradation model with quantifying the effects of human activities can be used in monitoring and improving the situation in these areas. To implement this model in Bashgol protected area, the sub watersheds were selected in the area as the impact units. Using maps, field observations and experts’ opinions, 25 destruction factors in the whole area were identified and their intensities were determined, also ecological vulnerability of the area was calculated with GIS tools using geological, physiographic, climatic, vegetation, habitat and other maps (16 factors) and was classified in terms of intensity. After calculating the physiological density, destruction coefficients were calculated in each unit and were classified based on fuzzy theory into 3 categories and 6 classes. The results showed that 8465/51 hectares (34/7%), 12013/44 hectares (49.23%) and 3920 hectares of area (16/07%) are located on the 2nd class prone to development , the 3nd class (need to rehabilitation) and the 5nd class (need to conservation), respectively in terms of the quality of the land. Generally, according to local conditions, without the further development, the objectives of area management must go toward the restoration and protection measures.

Varamin is a migratory region due to its close proximity to Tehran's metropolis. This trend has led to increase population and land use change. Conversely, having favorable physiographic conditions and favorable water and soil potential, this region has a high capacity for agricultural development. In this study, the ecological capability were evaluated using Iran's agricultural and rangeland applications model. First, a specific model based on Iran's agricultural and rangeland applications model, for regional studies has been prepared. Then, various maps of elevation, gradient, geographic directions, soil, vegetation type and vegetation density of the studied area prepared in ArcGIS 10.4 software and then the maps integrated into final plan of the environmental units with 863 units. In the last step, with comparison of applications requirement with properties of units optimal usage of each unit was determined. The results showed that from the total area of the region, 33.12% were suitable for agriculture with grade of 3; 0.45 percent with grade of 5; 0.19 percent for range management with grade of 1; 0.54 percent with grade of 2; 9.42 percent with grade of 3 and 54.93 percent were suitable for protection (1.35% of the area were allocated to settlements).

Assuming for free the forest ecosystem services and lack of knowledge of the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the economic value of these services is considered one of the main causes of forest destruction. Considering ecological differences in Zagros forests, in this study the economic valuation of soil and water conservation function was estimated in spatial pattern for the Sarvabad basin, Kurdistan province. Therefore, the amount of erosion and sedimentation in the study area was determined using MPSIAC models. And then was evaluated using the opportunity cost approach. For valuation of water conservation function, the hydrologic units’ separated and mapped, then amount of runoff was estimated using Justin method. Considering the scenario of eliminates the forest cover, water Influence in forest lands was determined. Water conservation function was evaluated using the replacement cost approach. According to the results obtained for total economic value of soil conservation functions, the value of Forest ecosystems in the study area was estimated to be 27002.82 Rials per year, per hectare and the economic value per hectare forest was determined to be 0.79 Rials for water conservation function in Sarvabad basin. The ecological and structural differences in study area caused different values which show that average estimations in Heterogeneous ecosystems such as Zagros forests are not suitable.

Access routes are the basic requirements to access recreational areas and tourism planning. The purpose of this study is designing and evaluating of forest road network in order to select the optimal road network for tourism development in Arasbaran protected area. For this purpose, recreational suitable areas were evaluated and identified using Makhdoum systemic methods and Multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network. In order to prepare the road passing suitability map, effective criteria for road designing have been standardized with the fuzzy logic method and combined according to the relative importance obtained from the analytical hierarchy process. Then, the road network options were designed for access to recreational areas in the GIS environment and evaluated in terms of technical, environmental and socioeconomic. The results of the tourism suitable area assessment showed sections of the region have a capability for intensive recreation class 2 (0.17%), and extensive recreation class 2 (10.09%). According to the weighting results by criteria, slope criterion with a value 0.289 and height criterion with a value 0.033 have the highest and the lowest weight, respectively. Overall, 14 road network variants were designed and based on the final evaluation, variant 7 was selected as the optimal option with density 3.34 m/ha, accessibility (hard) 64.68% and minimum cost and environmental impacts. Therefore, taking into account the cost and environmental impacts and using GIS capabilities, it is possible principle design of the road network, and as a result the development of existing access roads in order to develop tourism in the area.

Forest roads make access for people who want using the gift of forest. Experts believe that one of the ways that can encourage visitors to experience promenade more visible is to use developed, targeted and desirable pedestrians. Using them can access to the most attractive locations of promenade in a controlled way. The study area (Patom district of Kheyrud forest) which is partly faced toward north and has Caspian Sea view is capable of promenade attractions. In this study, first of all, after going through the path in Patom district of Kheyrud forest, we collected information and then by using Arc GIS software, the layer's slope and soil maps were prepared to specify appropriate locations for designing walk ways, and to specify the capability of existed path for tourism usage. Also scenic views were located and the quality and the specifications of views that specified the related table of view's specs, were defined. After data study and making sure that they are normal, SPSS software was used for path widths. The study results were showed that the average width difference with standard was 1.5 meter which was about one percent (p

The great efforts in the past years causes establishment of the Forest Parks in the round of Tehran, and have been seen the positive effects of this plantations on the urban community as well as population. The study area is located on southern facing slopes of the Alborz Mountain chains in the north buffer of Tehran city, and this study area was included a twelve sub- catchment of central catchment, and this area was a part of the green belt in Tehran. At the first in this research, we identified the ecological resources, and socio-economic resources. Then, data was interpreted and integrated, and make to units mapping. On the basis of identified resources, special model of area based on general model ecotourism and afforestation (the Iranian model of Makhdoum) was prepared. According to design model, the ecological capability evaluation was conducted for ecotourism and afforestation use. From the levels of 40,000 ha on southern facing slopes of the Alborz Mountains of Tehran, and basis on an ecological capability evaluation model, intensive recreation capability of class 2, extensive recreation capability of class 1, and extensive recreation capability of class 1 were allocated 1309 ha, 1802 ha, and 28275 ha, respectively. To determine the appropriate area for allocation to the forest recreation, zoning and delimitation was performed. Detailed mapping was carried out. Then, the area was allocated with 28 ha for designation.

According to a World Bank report, the urban growth rate is increasing more than the rate of population growth throughout the world. Such an urban growth rate may cause environmental crises on different levels (global, national and local) if there is a failure to consider ecological factors. It is obvious that development of metropolises such as Tehran is also impossible without considering some master plan which defines the appropriate urban development planes based on ecological criteria.

It seems that land suitability indicators based on ecological criteria may provide a suitable basis for urban planning purposes in order to identify a better solution and prevent environmental crisis. Multi-criteria assessment is required to find the suitable ecological criteria for evaluating urban development potential, therefore a multi-criteria decision making approach using GIS techniques was employed during present research to find appropriate ecological criteria. Besides that and due to inherent uncertainty governing the decision making process as well as the incompatibility of different judgments made by various decision makers, we were encouraged to use fuzzy logic to eliminate ambiguity of decisions in this research.

During the present study the necessary factors were extracted through a literature review and the Delphi Technique, and were entered into a GIS database. Information layers were combined using weights derived from Delphi Techniques and the ultimate decision was made based on the two Boolean and Fuzzy Logic using ARC GIS 10.1.

Final results revealed that there is no more room for horizontal development in the City of Tehran