Estimating the Carrying Capacity of Suitable Zones for Tourism Development in Baneh, A Case Study of Dokanan Tourism Area

The growth in tourism industry while ignoring potentials and carrying capacity of the land can lead to serious environmental damages in long-term. Understanding the potential and proportion of land and using the quantitative methods to estimate the amount of utilization of existing resources have an important role in land use planning and management processes.  Baneh has been the host of a large  number of tourists during the last decades and thus needs to improve its tourism infrastructures.  Dokanan tourism area was suggested in order to meet this requirement. In this paper, suitable areas for recreational activities in Dokanan area of Baneh have been detected using AHP-FUZZY method. Then based on the results of ecological land evaluation, physical and real carrying capacity of the case study has been estimated. The carrying capacity has been estimated concerning two cases: 1- for the whole area according to its capability and 2- according to zoning of area design. The results indicated that the second case gives more accurate and purposeful responses in comparison with the first one which could be used in recreational planning and management of the area.