An Assessment of the Role of Ecotourism on the Development of Rural Areas (Case Study: Uraman-e-Takht, Sarvabad)

Ecotourism is a sub-component of the field of sustainable tourism; and as an alternative tourism، it involves visiting natural areas in order to learn، to study، to enjoy or to carry out activities environmentally friendly، that is، a tourism based on the nature experience، which enables the economic and social development of local communities. Therefore ecotourism is as a valuable tool for local community development along with environmental resources conservation. So that Ecotourism has become an important economic and social activity in natural areas around the world. In other words، there is a close relationship between ecotourism and economic and social structures of local communities that can play an important role in their development. It provides opportunities for visitors to experience powerful manifestations of nature and culture and to learn about the importance of biodiversity conservation and local cultures. At the same time، ecotourism generates income and job for conservation and economic benefits for communities living in rural and remote areas. As a development tool، ecotourism can also advance the following basic goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity: 1- Conserving biological and cultural diversity by strengthening private and public protected area management systems and increasing the value of sound ecosystems; 2- Promoting the sustainable use of biodiversity by generating income، jobs and business opportunities in ecotourism and related business networks; and 3- Sharing the benefits of ecotourism developments equitably with local communities and indigenous people، by obtaining their informed consent and full participation in the planning and management of ecotourism businesses. Therefore، according to the close relationship of rural areas with natural environment surrounding، eco-tourism has an important role in the development of these areas; and this study attempts to answer these questions: 1- Has ecotourism extending an effective role in improving rural development indexes in the study area from the viewpoint of local residents? And 2- in which dimensions of rural development، ecotourism extending has been more effective? Research This study is a practical research and we have used descriptive- analytical methods for issue and results explanations. To collect needed data and information، after evaluating theoretical foundations and definition of criteria، we designed a questionnaire by using a Likert scale. A questionnaire was used for data collection which was further validated by an academic panel of experts in the field of research. Its reliability was calculated by Cronbach’s alpha that was 0. 77 for measured indexes. For quantitative data analysis، tests such as one sample t-test، Friedman rank test، chi-square coefficient، linear multiple regression and path analysis in SPSS software package were used. The study population consisted of villages located within the diplomatic district of Uraman-e-Takht county in Sarvabad in the southwestern province of Kurdistan. The county includes five populated villages with 1،228 households and the 274 households were selected as a sample by using Cochran formula. The Questionnaires were distributed randomly in sample Villages. Discussion and The results of descriptive statistics survey show that 70. 2 percent of the 274 respondents were married، had a mean age of 38، 67 percent of high school education، 87. 6% of the respondents were males، 25. 5 percent of main jobs were related to free jobs and 84% of respondents have lived 10 years and more in Uraman-e-Takht county. In this study، we investigated the role of ecotourism in ​​rural settlements development with numerous ecotourism and natural attractions in the study area; So that the data obtained from the questionnaire in the first stage is classified after summarization in the context of sustainable development indicators and then analyzed by using statistical tests such as one sample t test and Friedman ranking test to determine the significance of means differences. On the other hand، to evaluate the role of each of these indexes (economic، social، physical، institutional and environmental as independent variables) in rural development variable (as a dependent variable) a multivariate linear regression test was used. In the next stage، using the theoretical findings and opinions of some experts، the path analysis model was constructed to show the effects of independent variables. The result of this study shows that: - The result of using one sample t test determines significant differences in indicators means; and all studied indicators have a significant distance from the test value (3) on Likert scale and the orientations of all indicators are positive. - The result of Friedman ranking analysis of means differences from the viewpoint of local respondents indicates that there were significant differences in the level of alpha of 0. 01. So that، the highest ranking means are devoted to physical (access to services، infrastructure development، construction of villas، etc.) and economic (job opportunities، income creation، access to markets، etc.) aspects respectively; and the lowest mean is devoted to environmental aspect (discharge of sewage، throwing garbage near-by attractions and routes of access to them، intensification of land use changes، emptying trash، etc.). - The results of the path analysis of ecotourism role in rural development indicate that economic indicators with the value of 0. 858 have had the most impact، and physical parameters (0. 371) have had the least impact on rural development from the viewpoints of residents in the study area.