Assessment of Recreation Opportunity in Miankaleh Wildlife Refuge

Ecotourism is a major tourist activity around the world nowadays. Wetlands, birds, and beautiful viewssceneries are examples of natural attractions for ecotourism. When implemented within the capabilities of natural systems which are evaluated based on natural and socio-economic factors, ecotourism can simultaneously lead to regional prosperity and environmental protection. We chose Miankaleh Wildlife Refuge in the south of the Caspian Sea. We used self filled questionnaires for collecting public opinion. In doing so, experts chose 14 suitable recreational activities for the area. We asked visitors to rank the recreational activities on a range of 1 to 14. A formula was suggested for analyzing the collected data. The results indicated that the weights of the selected recreational activities are as follows: bird watching (91), swimming (89), photography and filming of nature (84.7), viewing scenery (83.6), horse riding (83), boating (81.6), fishing (77.3), resting (76.6), research (75.6), camping (59.5), viewing cultural locations (75.5), picnicking (74.8), biking (74.8), and hunting (74.2).