Analysis of Appropriate Zones for Ecotourism Development in Zanjan Province Using GIS

Geographical position، topographic conditions and climatic variety have caused the ‎province of Zanjan to be known as the province of Four Seasons. Its unique ‎ecological conditions، forest and pasture coverage، numerous water resources، ‎wildlife، several hunting zones، protected areas، caves، waterfalls، springs and tens of ‎other beautiful unique landscapes have caused this province to become one of the ‎two tourist poles in Northwest of the country. In this study، by using geographic ‎information system، we have studied appropriate areas of potential ecotourism ‎activities such as mountaineering، hiking، winter sports and skiing، water sports and ‎fishing، nature therapy and ecotourism. Therefore، required layers of information ‎were prepared including maps of the altitudes levels، slope، slope aspect، water levels ‎and rivers، mineral springs and vegetation. Then، by combining and overlapping ‎information layers in GIS environment using Boolean Models and AHP، appropriate ‎zones for ecotourism development in Zanjan were specified. This study shows that ‎over 30 percent of the province area has the potential for various ecotourism ‎activities. ‎