Rangeland suitability of Gilizjand watershed for tourism and recreation

Farazmand, Ali; Arzani, Hossein; Javadi, Seyed Akbar; Sanadgol, Abbasali

doi:10.22092/ijrdr.2019.119336

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ Ph.D. Student, Department of Range Management, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

² Professor, Department of Rehabilitation of Arid and Mountainous Regions, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

³ Associate Professor, Department of Range Management, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

⁴ Assistant Professor, Range Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22092/ijrdr.2019.119336

Abstract

Over 50% of the country's surface is rangeland and livestock grazing is the main use of rangelands. Therefore, in the range of cities, rangelands should be considered not only in terms of livestock forage, but also for recreational aspects. The Gilizjand Watershed with an area of 16210.44 hectares is located in northern Firouzkooh city of Tehran province. According to the Demarton modified method, it has a cool semi-arid climate. This research was conducted on the basis of the FAO guidelines (1991), and GIS on a scale of 1: 20000, the limiting factor method was used. At first, the existing condition of the rangelands was studied. Then, factors affecting tourism including environmental and ecological factors (climate, elevation, slope, attractions of the area, water resources, and soil) and infrastructure factors (access to the area and distance to service centers and welfare centers) were studied. Eventually, the suitability of the rangelands of the region was determined for tourism and recreation.The results showed that 1% of the area was in the good suitability class (S1), 9.4% in the middle suitability class (S2), 29.4% in the poor suitability class (S3) and 60.2% in the non suitable class (N).The results also showed that the slope percentage, water content, distance from human-made attractions and plant composition were limiting factors for tourism in the Gilizjand watershed.

Keywords

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Rangeland suitability of Gilizjand watershed for tourism and recreation

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Volume 26, Issue 1June 2019Pages 187-200

Volume 26, Issue 1
June 2019
Pages 187-200