Environmental impact assessment of development with using the destruction model (Case study: Ashtrankoh protected area in Lorestan province)

Protected areas are among the renewable natural resources that have a special position due to having many environmental values. The model of environmental destruction is one of the methods of evaluating the effects of the environment, which analyzes and quantitatively determines the effects of human activities in the regional scale or watershed or any type of management unit. The purpose of this research is environmental impact assessment of development with using the destruction model and geographic information system (GIS) in Ashtrankoh protected area. First, Ashtrankoh protected area was divided into 554 grids and using field observations, opinions of experts and local people, and available information and maps, the number of 11 factors of destruction were identified and their severity was determined. Then, the ecological vulnerability and physiological density were calculated and then the destruction coefficients were obtained using the destruction relationship. Then, the ecological vulnerability and physiological density were calculated and then the destruction coefficients were obtained using the destruction relationship. Finally, all the networks were divided into 4 zones based on the fuzzy theory, with the ability to develop more, in need of reconstruction, in need of protective measures, and non-developable. According to the final results, out of a total of 554 networks, 524 networks, which is equivalent to 94.58% of the area of the Ashtrankoh protected area, are susceptible to further development, 28 networks, which is equivalent to 5.06% of the studied area, need to be reconstructed and 2 networks, which are equivalent to 36. It occupies 0.36% of the protected area of Ashtrankoh, they need protective measures.