Developing a decision-making algorithm for core zones zoning of Iran Biosphere Reserves (Case study: Dena biosphere reserve)

Iran is a country that has so far registered 13 Biosphere Reserves (BRs) under UNESCO's Man and Biosphere Program (MaB). This program states that although countries have independence and flexibility in the zoning and management of biosphere reserves; however, they should achieve the triple goals of conservation, sustainable economic development and Knowledge production and education through triple zoning and the implementation of appropriate management plans. This article, citing reference sources and world experiences, has tried to identify and introduce the criteria and spatial indicators of core zoning, as one of the three main zones of BR, with the help of decision-making algorithm and mathematical linear relationships, provide a scientific and generalizable model for core zoning in all biosphere reserves of the country. This research identified 5 mandatory criteria and 6 preferred criteria based on similar researches and the Delphi method for the zoning of the core of BRs in the country, by observing the percentage of the core zone from BR in the range of 5 to 20%, the establishment of the core in representative ecosystems of the country (with Covering at least 10%), meeting the needs of the protection zone of the areas with the national title (at least 20%), zoning the core of the Dana Biosphere Reserve and to avoid arbitrary procedures, in actions similar to the decision-making algorithm and The linear relationships of the integration of the indices of each criterion and the criteria of the core zone have been presented. The core area of the Dena biosphere reserve was identified as 6 permitted spots in clusters using the 5 mandatory criteria of representativeness, virginity and naturalness, conservation species, habitat importance, sensitivity and biological vulnerability of the habitat, and the preferred criterion of integrity. The size of these spots is 26928 hectares, covering about 11% of the BR, the core spots covered 10-13% of representative ecosystems, about 26% of Dana National Park, and 20% of Western and Eastern Dana Protected Areas.