Planning and modifying the forest road networks for tourism and rural development in Arasbaran area

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.