Analysis of the Impact of Ecotourism on Capitals of Rural Livelihoods in the Sustainability Framework (Case Study: Palangan Village of Kurdistan)

Sustainable livelihood approach is one of the new approaches in the field of sustainable rural development, which has been considered for poverty reduction and improving rural living standards, and their factors have a vital importance and role. Therefore, the aim of this study investigate the effect of ecotourism on sustainable rural livelihood in Palangan Village of Kurdistan Province. The statistical population in this study is all persons over 20 year’s old living in the studied village that are 623 peoples. Sampling was done randomly that using the Cochran formula, a total of 238 individuals were selected. A data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire that used after confirming the validity by experts' opinion and reliability by Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.83). Data analysis was performed using SPSS16.0 software. The results of one-sample t-test showed that natural, social and human resources were not in a good condition under the influence of ecotourism in Palangan village. Financial and physical capitals have had a better effects and this effect was only significant in physical livelihood capital. The findings of this study showed that there is a need to improve the tourism situation in the study area in order to achieve sustainable livelihoods and in this regard, principled management, local community participation and the use of ecotourism potentials in Palangan village are necessary.