Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
PhD Student, International Aras University, University of Tehran
2
Associate Professor, University of Tehran
3
Professor at University of Tehran
Abstract
Extended Abstract
Management of tourism in protected areas is essential to develop a management plan tailored to the characteristics of the ecological, economic and social area which can duly help tourism management, facilities and related services. In order to manage sustainable tourism in Mangrove forests, after reviewing and summarizing the internal and external references, 11 criteria and 31 sub-criteria and 55 indicators were extracted. The results of the Delphi questionnaire were distributed among tourism and forestry experts. Results based on a percentage, degree and coefficient of importance showed that 11 Criteria including climate, water, land, biodiversity, vegetation, wildlife, management dimension, cultural dimension, social dimension, economic dimensions and threats containing 31 sub criteria and 53 indicators are important for the implementation of sustainable tourism management in mangroves forests and will be used in the decision-making process. It is clear that implementation of tourism criteria in other natural ecosystems requires independent studies.
Introduction
Sustainable tourism is a motivation for conservation and the protection of nature and threatened species in developing countries in particular. At the same time, it is an effective tool with its contribution to the economy and development of a region/country, the employment opportunities it creates and its role in rural development.
While the Iranian Department of Environment (IDOE) has embarked on the mission of sustainable development through sustainable tourism and biodiversity conservation in their protected areas, no monitoring system was developed nor was there a monitoring exercise undertaken by the protected areas authority. There is also no periodic evaluation of the protected area's performance in sustainable tourism management and biodiversity conservation. The IDOE is mandated to manage protected areas, conserve wildlife, promote sustainable tourism, and support sustainable economic development of local people living adjacent to protected areas. Therefore, these criteria and indicators will be used for assessing the impact of ecotourism on the socio-culture of local communities, biodiversity and environment of mangrove protected area. The indicators will also be the standard measurements for evaluating the action and performances of the IDOE in the management of protected areas.
Materials and Methods
The Qeshm Island occupies an area of about 1,500 square kilometers (140 kilometers long and 11 kilometers wide on average) and is the biggest island of the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the most unique attraction on Qeshm Island and the coasts of Persian Gulf for every domestic and foreign tourist is the floating mangrove forest. These mangrove forests with an area about 8583.3 ha is located at 26° 43′ to 26° 59′ Northern latitude and 55° 32′ to 55° 48′ Eastern longitude.
We tried to extract the main indicators by precise literature review. We selected the indicators of this study based on the literature review combined with the result on the necessary factors which were identified at sustainable management for ecotourism.
First of all, the coefficient of degree of importance was adjusted based on below formula:
Moderated coefficient
Then by multiplying this adjusted coefficient by initial values, the moderated values (Yi) were calculated. The weighted values for each degree of importance (1, 3, 5, 7 and 9) were calculated based on this equation:
Weighted value (Zi) = Yi*n
Where n is the number of experts who have selected the value for evaluating the importance of each indicator. Then sum of the weighted values will be estimated by. So, the percentage of importance for every indicator was calculated as below:
Percentage of importance: /A*100
Maximum obtainable weighted value (A) =N*10
N=total number of experts
Degree of importance = [ (Xi*n)]/N
After calculating the degree of importance and percentage of importance of all indicators, unsuitable indicators were identified.
Discussion and Results
The results shows that "protected species diversity" indicator has gotten the most and "educational level" indicator the least normalized values. Also, "protected species diversity" has the most and "educational level" has the least percentage of importance and importance coefficient.
The screened indicators by Delphi method are identified as suitable indicators for the purpose of this study. Except two indicators (Educational level and nonnative population), all indicators are received the necessary values (more than the median) and these two indicators should be omitted in sustainable management of sustainable tourism. "Protected species number", "level of management", "appropriate equipment of recreational areas", "existence of solid waste management system", " existence of waste water management system ", "ecosystem fragmentation" and "aesthetics features number" have the most normalized value; while "educational level" and "nonnative population" has the least normalized values.
Conclusion
Delphi results showed that all primary indicators have the needed importance in experts' and decision makers' opinions and generally in the field of coastal region management these indicators and suggested model can be used in similar studies. We used Delphi method in this study and results showed that it is an efficient method in decision making processes. On the other hand, the suggested linear formula shows a mathematical relationship among screened indicators based on their normalized value through Delphi method. So, it is easy to understand and compare these indicators importance during practical decision making. This formula can be used for mapping processes and coefficients can be multiplied in ever indicator layer and lead to sustainable management by classified maps' overlying. Finally, the effects of indicators with both positive and negative points depend on their current condition in the purpose of this study. So it is obvious that Delphi method is an appropriate for selecting, prioritizing and screened the indicators for sustainable management and decision making and this is in accordance with the studies of Sepasi et al., 2010; Danehkar et al., 2012; Haddadinia and Danehkar, 2012 and Hasanzadeh et al., 2013 which applied the Delphi method to prioritize the ecotourism indicators.
This model helps experts to understand importance levels and priority levels of all indicators and makes a suitable decision based on these priorities without destructing environment resources. Hence, Delphi method can be suggested as the most applicable method for sustainable management of tourism, especially in coastal regions and mangrove forests.
Key Words: Delphi, Sustainable Tourism, Mangrove Forests, Khamir, Qeshm.
References
Ahmadi, N. (2009). Introduction and review of Delphi method, Social science, N0. 22: 600-610. (In Persian)
Akbarpour Saraskanroud, M. and Nourbakhsh, F. (2010). The role of ecotourism in sustainable urban and rural development (case study: Qeshm Island), House and Rural Environment, No. 132: 61-76. (In Persian)
Akbari samani, N., Badri, S.A. and Salmani, M. (2013). Assessment of sustainable rural tourism (case study: Shahrekord township), Geography and Regional Urban and Spatial Planning, No. 9: 29-48. (In Persian)
Alfsen, K. and Greaker, H. (2007). From natural resources and environmental accounting to construction of indicators for sustainable development, Ecological Economics, 600-610.
Ardekani, T. (2007). Developing sustainable tourism program in Chabahar Bay based on environmental criteria. MS Theses. Natural resources. Tehran University
Barzekar, G., Aziz, A., Mariapan, M., Ismail, M.H. and Hosseni, S.M. (2011). Delphi technique for generating criteria and indicators in monitoring ecotourism sustainability in Northern forests of Iran: Case study on Dohezar and Sehezar Watersheds, Folia Forestalia Polonica, Series A, 53(2): 130-141.
Blancas, F.J., Lozanooyola, M., Gonzalez, M., Guerrero, F.M., and Caballero, R. (2011). How to use sustainability indicators for tourism planning: The case of rural tourism in Andalusia (Spain), Science of the Total Environment, 412-413, 28-45.
Castellani, V. and Sala, S. (2010). Sustainable performance index for tourism policy development, Tourism Management, 31: 871–880.
Cernat, L. and Gourdon, J. (2007). Is the concept of sustainable tourism sustainable, United Nations, New York and Geneva, P. 37.
Choi, H.C. and Sirakaya, E. (2006). Sustainability indicators for managing community tourism, Tourism Management, 27: 1274-1289.
Danehkar, A., Asadollahi, Z., Alizadeh, A. and Javanshir, A. (2012). Nature-based tourism planning in Choghakhour wetland by using spatial multi-criteria evaluation, Natural Environment Journal, 65(1): 53-66.(In Persian)
Danehkar, A. and Mahmoudi, B. (2013). Nature Tourism, Development and Planning criteria, SID Publications, Tehran. (In Persian)
Danehkar, A., Mahmoudi, B., Saeed sabayee, M., Gadirian, T., Sharifi, N., Asadollahi, N. and Petrosian, H. (2012). Mangrove National Iranian Document, Forestry Organization, Hormozgan Province. (In Persian)
Mahmoudi, B., Danehkar, A. (2009). Benchmark analysis of ecological environmental factors affecting the tourist potential manages allotments in the city LORDEGAN forests through multi-criteria evaluation (using GIS). Land use planning. 1. No 1: 55-69
Deng, J. and Selin, S. (2012). Application of the Delphi method to ecotourism destination evaluations: a rejoinder to Brian Garrod, Journal of Ecotourism, 11(3): 224-229.
Doody, D.G., Kearney, P., Barry, J., Moles, R. and O’Regan, B. (2009). Evaluation of the Q-method as a method of public participation in the selection of sustainable development indicators, Ecological Indicators, 9: 1129–1137.
FAO, (1999b). Report of Workshop on National-level Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Management of Dry Forests in Asia/South Asia, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, India, 30 November–3 December 1999. UN Food and Agriculture Organization/UN Environment Program/International Tropical Timber Organization, Rome.
Fraser, E., Dougill, A., Mabee, W., Reed, M. and McAlpine, P. (2006). Bottom up and top down: Analysis of participatory processes for sustainability indicator identification as a pathway to community empowerment and sustainable environmental management, Journal of Environmental Management, 78: 114–127.
Eftekhari, A., Mahdavi, D., Pourtaheri, M. (2011). Commercializing ecological processes indicators of sustainable development of rural tourism in Iran. Rural Research. No 4. P 41.
Estelaji, A. and Alalhaghlinezhad, M. (2011). Planning for sustainable development with an emphasis on tourism (case study:sarein and arounded villages, Geography Journal, 9(30): 129-144. (In Persian)
Forouzad, M. and Danehkar, A. (2013). Nature tourism in mangrove forests, Sabzineh Journal, 8(87): 15-19. (In Persian)
Ghadami, M. and Aligolizadeh firouzjani, N. (2012). Assessment of destination tourism in the context of sustainable development (case study: Tameshkal village, Tonekabon), Geography Research, 27(1): 79-104. (In Persian)
Garcia Melon, M., Gomez Navarro, T. and Acuna Dutra, S. (2012). A combined ANP-Delphi approach to evaluate sustainable tourism, Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 34: 41-50.
Golusin, M. and Ivanovic, O.M. (2009). Definition, characteristics and state of the indicators of sustainable development in countries of Southeastern Europe, Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 130: 67–74.
Gough, A. D., Innes, J. and Allen, S. (2008). Development of common indicators of sustainable forest management, Ecological Indicators, 8: 425-430.
Grainger, A. (2012). Forest sustainability indicator systems as procedural policy tools in global environmental governance, Global Environmental Change, 22: 147-160.
Hak, T., Kovanda, J. and Weinzettel, J. (2012). A method to assess the relevance of sustainability indicators: Application to the indicator set of the Czech Republic’s Sustainable Development Strategy, Ecological Indicators, 17: 46-57.
Haddadinia, S. and Danehkar, A. (2012). Prioritization of nature tourism criteria in desert and semi-desert by Delphi, Geography and Urban Logistics, No. 3: 17-29. (In Persian)
Hasanzadeh, M, Danehkar, A. and Azizi, M. (2013). The application of Analytical Network Process to environmental prioritizing criteria for coastal oil jetties site selection in Persian Gulf coasts (Iran), Ocean & Coastal Management, No. 73: 136-144. (In Persian)
Hashemi, N. (2010). The role of ecotourism in sustainable rural development, Village & Development, 13 (3):173-188. (In Persian)
Jafarnia, Sh., Oladi, J. and Karami, O. (2013). Application of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate the land for development Qesm Island mangroves based on the physical and chemical properties of soil and water, Remote Sensing and GIS Applications in Natural Resource Sciences Journal, 4(1): 79-91. (In Persian)
Jalilova, G., Khadka, C. and Vacik, H. (2012). Developing criteria and indicators for evaluating sustainable forest management: A case study in Kyrgyzstan, Forest Policy and Economics, 21: 32-43.
Kaynak, E. and Cavlek, N. (2007). Measurement of Tourism Market Potential of Croatia by Use of Delphi Qualitative Research Technique, Journal of East-West Business, 12(4): 105-123.
Kibedi, G. (1981). Future trends in international tourism, Revue the Tourism, 36: 3-6.
Kondyli, J. (2010). Measurement and evaluation of sustainable development A composite indicator for the islands of the North Aegean region, Greece, Environmental Impact Assessment Review, No. 30: 347-356.
Kotwal, P.C., Omprakash, M.D., Gairola, S. and Dugaya, D. (2008). Ecological indicators: Imperative to sustainable forest management, Ecological Indicators, No. 8: 104-107.
Liu, J. (1998). Hawaii tourism to the year 2000: A Delphi forecast, Tourism Management, 279–90.
Liu, C., Tzeng, G. and Lee, M. (2012). Improving tourism policy implementation: The use of hybrid MCDM models, Tourism Management No. 33: 413-426.
Logar, I. (2010). Sustainable tourism management in Crikvenica, Croatia: An assessment of policy instruments, Tourism Management, No. 31, 125-135.
Lozanooyola, M., Blancas, F., Gonz, M. and Caballero, R. (2012). Sustainable tourism indicators as planning tools in cultural destinations, Ecological Indicators, No. 18: 659–675.
Maes, W., Fontaineb, M., Rongeb, K., Hermyb, M. and Muysb, B. (2011). A quantitative indicator framework for stand level evaluation and monitoring of environmentally sustainable forest management, Ecological Indicators, No. 11, 468-479.
Makhdoum, M. (2003). Foundation for Land Use Planning, Tehran: Tehran University Publication. (In Persian)
Masberg, B.M., Dorothy, M., Chase, A. and Madlem, M.S. (2004). A Delphi study of tourism training and education needs in Washington State, Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 2(2): 1-22.
Mendoza, G. and Prabhu, R. (2003). Qualitative multi-criteria approaches to assessing indicators of sustainable forest resource management, Journal of Forest Ecology and Management, No. 174: 329–343.
Miller, G. (2001). The development of indicators for sustainable tourism: results of a Delphi survey of tourism researchers, Tourism Management, No. 22: 351-362.
Miller, G., L., and Twining Ward, L., (2005). Monitoring for a sustainable tourism transition: The challenge of developing and using indicators, CABI Publishing, P. 59.
MCPFE, 2002. Improved Pan-European indicators for sustainable forest management. In: Adopted at MCPFE Expert Level Meeting, 7–8 October, Vienna. MCPFE Liaison Unit, Vienna.
Montreal Process. (2006b). Criteria and Indicators of Sustainable Forest Management Indicator Review, Proposed Revised Indicators. Montreal Process Technical Advisory Committee, Ottawa.
Moharramnezhad, N. and Aghakhani, M. (2009). Assess the threats and opportunities of ecotourism industry (case study: Protected Jajroud area), Environmental Science and Technology, 11(3): 237-247. (In Persian)
Orsi, F., Geneletti, D. and Newton, A. (2011). Towards a common set of criteria and indicators to identify forest restoration priorities: An expert panel-based approach, Ecological Indicators, No. 11: 337-347.
Pashayeezad, H. (2007). Overveiw of Delphi, Nour Peak Journal, 6(2): 63-79. (In Persian)
Rezazadeh, S. and Ghanavi, Z. (2007). Review of Need for the Development of Ecotourism in Iran and its Influencing Factors, Ghazvin Environment Department. (In Persian)
Rezvani, M., Akbarian Roneyzi, S., Eftekhari, A., Badri, S. (2012). Explain the sustainability benchmark index in evaluating the effects of tourism patterns in rural areas of the metropolis. Human Geography Research. No 81:69-94
Rio, D. and Nunes, L.M. (2012). Monitoring and evaluation tool for tourism destinations, Tourism Management Perspectives, No. 4: 64-66.
Sepasi, Y., Danehkar, A., Darvishsefat, A., and Sharifipour, R., (2010). Environmental planning for conservation and tourism Island of spatial multi-criteria evaluation, Natural Environment Journal, 63(2): 159-172. (In Persian)
Singh, R.K., Murty, H.R., Gupta, S.K. and Dikshit, A.K. (2009). An overview of sustainability assessment methodologies, Ecological Indicators, No. 9: 189-212.
Spanssberg, J. (2002). Environmental space and the prism of sustainability: frameworks for indicators measuring sustainable development, Journal of Ecological Indicators, No. 2: 295–309.
Tsaur, Sh., Lin, Y. and Lin, J. (2006). Evaluating ecotourism sustainability from the integrated perspective of resource, community and tourism, Journal of Tourism Management, No. 27: 640–653
Tsaur, S.H. and Wang, C.H (2007). The evaluation of sustainable tourism development by analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy set theory: An empirical study on the Green Island in Taiwan, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 12(2): 127-145.
Twining Ward, L. and Butler, R. (2002). Implementing STD on a small island: Development and use of sustainable tourism development indicators in Samoa, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 10(5): 363-387.
Varesi, H. and Moayyedfar, S. (2012). Strategic planning for sustainable tourism in arid (Case study: Yazd), New Approach in Human Geography, 4(3): 39-61. (In Persian)
World Tourism Organization (2011). Tourism investing in energy and resource efficiency, United Nations Environment Program, 408-447.
Yin, W.C. and Eagles, J. (2005). Development and ranking of tourism management goals for Wolong and Wanglang Giant Panda Nature Reserves, China, International Journal of Biodiversity Science & Management, 1(3): 137-149.
Yu, L., Hou, X., Gao, M. and Shi, P. (2010). Assessment of coastal zone sustainable development: A case study of Yantai, China, Journal of Ecological Indicators, No. 10: 1218–1225.
Yunis, E. (2004). Sustainable tourism and poverty alleviation, Paper presented at the World Bank-ABCDE Conference-Europe. Brussels, 10 May 2004, PP. 6-7.
Keywords
)