Evaluating the effects of environmental development using degradation model (Case study: Bagh-e Shadi protected area)

Subject Areas : ارزیابی پی آمدهای محیط زیستی

mahdeia ebrahymi ¹ , maryam morovati ² , Mahdi Tazeh ³

1 - MSc Student assessment and land use planning, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Ardakan University, Ardakan, Iran.
2 - Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences & Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Ardakan University, P.O. Box184, Ardakan, Iran. *(Corresponding Author)
3 - Associate Professor, Department of Nature Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture & Natural Resources, Ardakan University, Ardakan, Iran.

Received: 2021-02-20 Accepted : 2021-05-17 Published : 2022-09-23

Keywords: vulnerability, impact assessment, Degradation Model, Bagh-e Shadi Protected Area, development,

Abstract :

Background and Objective: Protected areas in the country requires monitoring and protection measures due to reduced quality. Therefore, in this regard, degradation model could be applied by quantifying human activities The aim of this study was environmental impact assessment of development in Bagh-e Shadi protected area using the degradation model in 2020.Material and Methodology:  To implement this model in the study area, first the area was divided into 406 pixels with a scale of 1: 50,000 and dimensions of 500 x 500 cm. Using existing maps, field observation and experts' opinions, 8 factors of degradation model in the whole region were identified and their severity was determined.Findings: The results showed that among the identified degradation factors, tourism activities had the most degradation in the protected area of Bagh-e Shadi. Then, the ecological vulnerability of the area was calculated using slope, direction, altitude, climate, soil depth, vegetation density, temperature, rainfall, land use with GIS tools and classified according to severity. After calculating the physiological density, the degradation coefficient was calculated in each of the pixels and was classified into 6 classes and 3 categories based on fuzzy theory.  Then all networks are compared in terms of severity and extent of degradation and the whole region was divided into three zones: prone to further development, in need of reconstruction and in need of protective measures.Discussion and Conclusion:  The results showed that in terms of land quality, 27.83% of the region is in the category of prone to further development (second categories), 35.22% in the requires reconstruction categories, 29.31% in the categories requires protective measures 64.7% are in the floor in need of protection measures (first categories). 

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