Cultural ecosystem services assessment in Golestan Province

Cultural ecosystem services are usually defined as non-material benefits that people obtain from a direct contact with natural environments through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreational activities, and aesthetic experiences. Policy and decision-making for environmental management, land-use planning and development at different scales can be enhanced by quantification and incorporation of ecosystem services. Incommensurability with valuation methods has led researchers to assess the cultural services using noneconomic techniques. In this research, multi criteria evaluation method was applied to assess cultural services ecosystem. In the first step, seven criteria were identified and prioritized based on Delphi method. Then, a map layer was created for each criterion. After standardizing layers, they were weighted by analytical hierarchy process. Finally, study area was divided in zones based on cultural ecosystem services. The results of this study using zonal land suitability assessment indicated that considerable amount of cultural services are located in Golestan national park and Bahramnnia research forest.