Land suitability assessment for nomadic tourism planning using GIS in Kohrang region

Subject Areas : Regional Planning

hojat ollah sadeghi ¹ , ahmad taghdisi ²

1 - Assistant Professor, Faculty of Geographical Sciences and Planning, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
2 - Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Rural Planning, Faculty of Geographical Sciences and Planning, Isfahan University, Isfahan, Iran

Received: 2023-10-31 Accepted : 2024-01-28 Published : 2024-05-21

Keywords: GIS, Planning, land suitability, nomadic tourism, Kohrang region,

Abstract :

Knowing the areas prone to tourism development, including nomadic tourism, can be a platform for planning and development. Kohrang region in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province has a favorable capacity for the development of nomadic tourism due to the nomadic community. Considering this capacity, proper planning should be done according to its land use. The aim of this research is to evaluate the land suitability of Kohrang region for nomadic tourism planning in the geographic information system (GIS). The descriptive-analytical research method is based on the spatial data of the country's mapping organization in 2012. The analysis was done based on the fuzzy AHP method in Arc GIS software. The data were fuzzified and standardized in the software environment. In order to compare the criteria and sub-criteria, the opinion of 10 experts was used for comparison in the Expert Choice software. Finally, the maps related to each criterion were prepared and finally, the land suitability map was compiled for regional tourism planning. The results showed that eight criteria can be used in evaluating land suitability for nomadic tourism planning. Three criteria of proximity to water resources with a weight of 0.268, land cover with a weight of 0.237 and proximity to the road with a weight of 0.145 were recognized as the most important criteria in evaluating the suitability of land for nomadic tourism. The results showed that the most suitable land for nomadic tourism was 258.471 square kilometers, which is equivalent to 12.80% of the area of the region. Also, relatively suitable lands for the planning of nomadic tourism have been allocated 27.57% of the lands of the region. The analysis of Moran's algorithm in the field of the pattern of distribution of lands susceptible to nomadic tourism shows that the identified lands are distributed in clusters and the most concentration of susceptible lands is located in the northwestern and eastern parts of the region. In general, the region has suitable lands for planning and developing nomadic tourism.
 
Extended Abstract
 
Introduction
Improper and unprincipled exploitation and in other cases, Lack of proper efficiency in exploiting the available resources in the villages, it has caused livelihood problems and created instabilities in the environment as the main source of rural livelihood. Therefore, it is necessary in proportion to the changes in production methods and creation of competitive markets, make changes in rural livelihoods so that villages can be developed and sustainable in terms of livelihood. Achieving a sustainable rural livelihood is not possible without considering the livelihood assets and capital in the villages. The approach to sustainable livelihoods of resources as assets or capital includes six main dimensions Which includes human assets, physical assets, financial assets, social assets, institutional assets and natural assets. Accordingly, development capital is considered as a very important theoretical tool to analyze the role of variables of sustainable rural development. It is necessary to know the current status of these capitals or assets and their components and their place in the development of different rural communities, in order to Proper and fit planning, based on the temporal and spatial characteristics of each of these communities, for the development of rural settlements.
Due to high deprivation in rural areas in the north of Bojnurd county, it seems necessary to study the level of development capital and its impact on the level of development of rural areas
Therefore, this study examines the capital development status of rural settlements in Bojnurd county and its impact on the formation of sustainable development in sample villages and next to that, measuring the level of 6 types of capital in each of the villages along with the ranking of the studied villages is based on the amount of development capital and sustainable rural development. Therefore, the main issue of the present study is to what extent does social capital affect the changes of sustainable development in rural areas compared to other development capitals?
 
Methodology
The research method is descriptive-analytical and practical in terms of purpose. The data have been prepared and analyzed through documentary and field methods. The basic data for the preparation of maps was the spatial data of the country's mapping organization. In order to use the spatial data, the operations of equalization, data format, ground referencing and data adaptation were performed. The criteria used in this research are height, slope, vegetation, distance from the road, distance from urban settlements, distance from rural settlements, distance from water sources, distance from landslide points. Data were standardized and fuzzy in Arc GIS software. In the following, the sub-criteria (classes) related to each criterion were determined and their weighting was done. Finally, the weights of the criteria and sub-criteria were determined and transferred to the Arc GIS software environment. The calculated weights were applied on the maps related to each of the criteria as well as sub-criteria. Finally, through the overlapping process, the final land suitability map for nomadic tourism planning in Kohrang region was presented.
 
Results and Discussion
For the planning of nomadic tourism based on the altitude index, the areas located at lower and more favorable altitudes are important. Therefore, in the context of the height criterion, the highest weight is related to floors with low height, i.e. 1011 to 1943 meters with a weight of 0.591 and 1944 to 2341 meters with a score of 0.151. In fact, areas with low elevation have been more suitable for nomadic tourism planning. Also, the best areas in terms of the slope criteria are related to the floors of zero to 5.4% with a weight of 0.543 and then 5.5 to 10.5% with a weight of 0.245. In fact, areas with less slope have been more suitable for the purpose of planning tourism development.
Another important indicator in the suitability of nomadic tourism lands is land cover. The land cover of the region is in four levels, and the best area is high-quality pastures with park trees, which has a weight of 0.529. Also, the rainfed agricultural land with a weight of 0.2698 is known in the second rank of this index for nomadic tourism planning. In terms of proximity to water sources, the best area is known as the zero to 804 meter floor with a weight of 0.586. According to this index, Manag closer to water sources are more favorable for nomadic tourism planning.
Also, in terms of the index of distance from villages, areas that are far away from rural areas are important. Based on this, the floor from 5975 to 10253 meters with a weight of 0.322 and then from 4199 to 5974 meters with a weight of 0.307 are considered more important for tourism planning. In addition, the distance from the city is also important. In terms of this index, nomadic tourism areas should be further away from urban areas so that they can maintain their locality and in other words, their ecotourism conditions. Based on this, the area with a distance of 46.6 to 60 km from cities with a weight of 0.404 and then an area from 33.6 to 46.5 km with a weight of 0.297 are known as the best areas in terms of this index.
Another indicator is proximity to the road. For planning the development of nomadic tourism, lands that are less far from the road are important. Therefore, the distance from zero to 3.5 km with a weight of 0.542 and then the distance from 3.6 to 6.5 km with a score of 0.192 are known as the most important areas. Also, in terms of landslides, nomadic tourism areas should be located at a suitable distance. Accordingly, the greatest distances are more important. The 1.73 to 95 km layer of landslides with a weight of 0.500 and then the 1.54 to 73 km layer with a weight of 0.276 are the best lands for planning the development of nomadic tourism.
In the following, the final weight and effectiveness of each criterion is stated. 8 effective indicators in this field are height, slope, vegetation, distance from the road, distance from urban settlements, distance from rural settlements, distance from water sources, distance from landslide points. In general, the most important criterion was proximity to water sources with an importance coefficient of 0.268. In addition, land cover is known with an importance factor of 0.237. Two criteria of proximity to the road with a weight of 0.145 and height with a score of 0.095 are also recognized in the third and fourth ranks. The lowest weights of the criteria in the field of land suitability assessment for planning the development of nomadic tourism are related to the two criteria of slope with a weight of 0.045 and distance from the city with a weight of 0.052. The rate of compatibility of values and pairwise comparison of data is equal to 0.02, which is acceptable.According to the results of table (4), which shows the distribution of suitable land in the region for nomadic tourism, the most suitable land in the region is equal to 471.258 square kilometers, which is equivalent to 12.80% of the total area of the region. Also, relatively suitable lands for nomadic tourism planning also cover 27.57% of the lands of the region. More than 29.43% of the lands are also known as very weak and relatively weak lands. With all these interpretations, it should be concluded that Kohrang region has a significant talent for planning the development of nomadic tourism in terms of land suitability, and this point is well confirmed by the current location of nomadic centers on the map.
 
Conclusion
The result of Moran's index confirmed that the lands prone to nomadic tourism are distributed in clusters. In fact, the lands of the region have a cluster pattern in the field of nomadic tourism. In this way, the highest concentration of susceptible lands is located in the northwest and east of the region. Also, the result of Moran's index emphasizes the classification of the region's lands into several susceptible, medium and non-susceptible classes. According to the stated content, it can be concluded that the clustering of lands suitable for tourism development planning can help the development of this approach in the entire geographical area of the region. In general, the result of this research confirms that the Kohrang region has a suitable talent for planning the development of nomadic tourism in terms of land suitability, and considering the cluster nature of these lands, comprehensive planning can be done for this region in terms of growth and development. Nomadic tourism compiled.

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